Like Father, Like Son
by TigerFlower
Summary: Jericho fights the fact that Slade wants him to follow in his footsteps after his unknown half sister moves in and secrets are revealed. Eventually JerichoxRaven Note: This one is pretty old, so my style of writing is quite different and not as good.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Teen Titans or nothing like that, of course.

**-T-**

_Adelaine Wilson struggled hard to free herself from the man's vice-like grip on her wrists, her face streaked with tears and her heart pounding. She kicked and screamed, but no matter how hard she hit the man, he seemed to feel no pain. Addie turned her face to the left, her eyes pleading with her teenage son behind her, who stood motionless and seemed frozen in place._

_"Joseph!" she pleaded desperately._

_He wanted to help her, only he couldn't move. He tried to take a step forward, but he had almost no control of his body, which refused to obey his mind. He stared in horror as the man lifted a dagger above his head, an evil grin sweeping across his face, and thrust it right through Addie's sternum, and her face twisted in a silent scream. The man dropped her to the ground and stretched his arms in obvious pleasure with himself._

_Joseph suddenly regained control of his body, and he rushed forward at the man in a rage, only to have his wrists siezed violently. The man looked down his nose at him and tightened his grip, causing Joseph to cry out in pain and kick wildly at the man's shins, but as before, the hulking mass of man seemed immune to pain. He once again raised his dagger, but this time his target was the boy's throat. _

_Joseph's hands shot to his thoat, and he knew he should feel the pain of the slice, but strangely he didn't, though the blood was running through his fingers plain as day. The man dropped the knife and literally disappeared into thin air, and as he did this Addie moaned from a few feet away. Joseph turned to her, and she raised her hand at him._

_"Oh, Joseph. Joseph."_

"Joseph! Falling asleep in class again, I see?"

Joseph Wilson woke in a hard sweat, in utter confusion at his surroundings until he realized he was at his school desk in Tibet and his algebra teacher was towering over him. _"Sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson," _he signed quickly with his hands, then fingered the scar on his throat which was mostly hidden by his jacket collar.

"You should be. That's the fourth time this week, Joe. It happens one more time, and I'm gonna have to call your mother."

His mother. Thank goodness she was alive and that it had all been a bad dream. He nodded slightly, and his teacher put a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Is it maybe that you're not getting enough sleep?"

_"I sleep fine,"_ he signed. Mostly.

"Whatever you say. Only-" But Mr. Johnson was interrupted by the bell and then the sound of the class grabbing their books and rushing out the door. Joseph looked at his teacher and waited for him to decide if he should go or stay after class for a lecture. The man seemed to know what Joseph was thinking and sighed. "Go on with the rest of the class. You're too good a kid to be staying in here and listening to me rant, anyway."

Joseph grabbed his backpack and headed out the door, letting out a sigh of relief. It was only going to be so many times that he was let off the hook, he knew, but sometimes sleep overcame him at school at the strangest times. Mostly in class, but sometimes even at the lunch table. Joseph was thankful that his sohpomore year was nearly over, and summer vacation would offer lots of time to sleep undisturbed.

He was almost to his locker when he felt an unpleasantly familiar hand on his arm. He stiffened as his backpack was pulled off his shoulder, and he heard it unzip and all his books hitting the floor. He turned around slowly and was not the least bit surprised. Jared Thomas, Joseph's one-and-only personal bully.

"Hope you didn't need those, Joey," Jared teased, and slapped Joseph hard on the back.

Joseph didn't like confrontation and was not much of a fighter, so he just bent down and gathered up his books. Jared wasn't the only one who treated him this way, so he was almost used to it. He didn't know why there were so many people who disliked him- probably because he was mute. Everyone saw it as a weakness, even his own family, but they didn't seem to understand that gentleness did not automatically mean weakness. He could hold his own if he really tried, having learned a lot just from watching his father train his older brother Grant in martial arts for all those years, but he figured it was best just to let the teasing slide for now.

After picking up all his books, he stood up and reached for his backpack in Jared's hand, who leaned forward and shoved Joseph's books out of his hands and onto the floor again. Joey knew the boy was trying to provoke him into showing anger, but he wasn't going to let it happen. He bent down to his knees again and slowly picked up his books once more, as Jared grinned and said, "I'll catch you later, mudo tirante."

Joseph didn't stand up from the floor until Jared had dropped his backpack and walked away. He crammed his books back into his bag and headed down the hall, stopping quickly in the bathroom to look in the mirror and wake himself up.

A few hours later, the final bell rang and the high school was soon empty of students. Joseph stepped out intot he bright sun of the afternoon hauled his backpack onto his back, preparing himself for the thirty minute walk home. A brunette girl from his English class poked him on the arm. "Why don't you ride the bus, Joey? It's too hot to walk today."

Joseph smiled and shook his head. _"No thanks, I have guitar practice."_

"If you ride the bus, you'll get there faster."

He shook his head again. He really did want to practice guitar when he got home, but in reality he avoided the bus as much as possible because there was no way he was getting on there and being stuck with Jared Thomas for fifteen minutes straight. He had tried it once and had been hassled the entire way.

The girl shrugged. "Suit yourself. Well, I've got homework, so I'd better get going. See ya."

He waved slightly, then took off down the sidewalk at a jog. He was good and ready to go home after the ordeal with Jared, but he knew the next day would bring the same thing over again, or worse. Some kids liked to attack the fact that he couldn't talk, but he tried not to let it get to him. "Blondie", "Stickman", and, of course, the classic "Teacher's Pet" had been some of the few choice names given to him. Others were unmentionable.

Joseph continued to jog as best he could in the heat and with the heavy backpack, and he tried to keep his endurance up for as long as he could stand it before walking again. He had been trying lately to build up some muscle on his thin frame, but it seemed no matter how hard he tried his body just wasn't handling it. His frustration only drove him to continue with his goal.

He finally reached his apartment and flung open the door, panting all the way up the stairs to the fourth floor. He took the key from his pocket and reached to unlock the door, but it swung open unexpectedly and Addie stood in the doorway.

"Hey Joey, I know I'm not usually home at this time, but- well, I'll explain it to you when you come inside."

Joseph came in and closed the door behind him, letting his backpack slide to the floor and looking at his mother quizically. She moved her son's guitar case from beside the couch and set it in a corner. Joseph noticed the house looked strangely and overly clean.

"We're having company for... awhile. Now don't give me that look; I know this apartment's not big enough as it is, but you father actually requested-" She was ineterrupted by a sharp knock on the door. "There she is now."

She walked by him to open the door, and Joseph signed, _"She?" _but his mother ignored him. He was then jarred by a loud and boisterous voice.

"Hey, Mrs. Kane!"

Addie raised an eyebrow. "Um, it's Wilson."

A girl walked into view, her luggage seeming to be a mere messenger bag, ignoring the correction and throwing her things in the middle of the floor. Addie cleared her throat and put a hand on Joseph's shoulder. "This is my son-"

"Yeah, I know," the girl interrupted. "Jeremy."

"Joseph."

"Whatever." She jumped over the back of the couch and landed gracefully in a sitting position. "Yo, nice crib, I guess. Needs some remodeling."

Joseph raised an eyebrow and glanced at his mother, who appeared to be nervous. They had to live with this girl, and for how long? He didn't normally dislike someone on the first encounter, but this girl, whoever she was, might just be an exception.

Addie cleared her throat, her irritiation on the verge of showing. "I'll show you your room in a minute, but I'd like to make a proper introduction first." She touched Joey's shoulder again. "Joseph, your step-sister Rose, Rose, Joseph."

Step-sister? Joseph hadn't even known he had one! He turned his angry look to his mother and signed, _"Why didn't I know about this?"_

"It's a long story, honey," Addie whispered. "You'll know everything when she leaves."

Joseph only hoped that would be soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: **I want to correct my mistakes in the last chapter, where I wrote _step_ sister instead of _half_ sister. Anytime it says step sister in chapter one, it is meant to say half sister. Anyways, on with the story.

**-T-**

Joseph looked hard at the girl he had never met that was sitting in his apartment, on his couch, near his mother. So Rose Wilson was her name. A half sister he had never knew. Though Addie had not said it yet, Joey knew that the girl was his father's daughter. She looked too much like him not to be, and not to mention acted like him. Joseph gave her the once-over again and wondered how a teenager could have naturally white hair and not look old.

"You know, it's pretty cool of you to let me stay here, Mrs. Kane," Rose said, crossing her legs and swaying her foot quickly.

Addie sighed but didn't correct her again. "Well, you're welcome."

Joseph poked his mother to get her attention, then signed, _"So why did she come here of all places?"_

She ignored the question and looked back to the teenage girl in front of her. "Rose, do you understand sign language?"

Rose shrugged. "Some. So I can communicate with what's-his-face enough, I guess."

Addie now appeared to be very irritated and she said sternly, "What's-his-face's name is Joseph. Now, I'm going to show you to your room, so get your things and follow me."

Rose picked up her messenger bag and followed Addie, her shoulder brushing Joseph's as she passed. He took a step backwards to avoid any further confrontation, but Rose was already halfway down the hall anyway.

Addie took Rose into the spare bedroom beside Joseph's and showed her where everything was briefly. "You can put your things anywhere, I guess. Now you'll be going to Joseph's school probably tomorrow, or at least until you... go home."

Rose looked peeved. "School? I thought coming here would get me away from that."

"Sorry," Addie said. Joseph read the look on her face and it seemed to say, You're not going to stay here all day and bum off of me, honey.

Rose shrugged and sat down on the bed, and Addie looked at her watch. "I have to get back to work, Joseph, so your father will get back before I do. You can show Rose around the neighborhood, if you want." She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead, then grabbed her purse and left the apartment.

After a few minutes of silence, Rose said, "So you're a mama's boy, aren't you?"

Joseph couldn't tell if she was being nice or not, so he didn't answer, and she didn't wait for one anyway. She stood up and stretched and asked him to show her around the house. Or basically told him to. He waved her forward and gave her a quick tour in an almost blind confusion. One minute he had been doing his regular daily routine, then the next minute his half sister he hadn't even known existed was in his house and temporarily living with him and his mother, so he was still absorbing the shock and the suddeness of it, though he tried not to let on. When they got to his room, Rose seemed to perk up at the sight of his music sheets and art canvas.

"Woah, looks like you're pretty busy most of the time." She scanned the room with her eyes, then made herself comfortable on Joey's bed. If he would have been this kind of person, he would have pushed her off, but he wasn't and so he didn't. He just nodded.

Not seeming to be able to stay in one place for long, Rose stood up and flipped through the papers of Joey's drawings. He could tell she thought he was a good artist, but she didn't say so. She just threw the papers on the bed and looked out the window. Joseph was tempted to ask her questions, like where she came from and why exactly she was here, and why here of all places? Didn't she have any other family? In a way it ticked him off that she had just popped up out of nowhere and came in and made herself at home the way she was doing now. Didn't she have any respect for other people's privacy? He raised his hands to ask her these things, but she turned around and interrupted him.

"So why is your mom so intent on me going to school? I have better things to do, you know."

_"Haven't you gone to school before? It shouldn't be anything new,"_ he signed.

"Just because it's old doesn't mean I have to like it." She crossed her arms and headed towards the bedroom door, then stopped and turned back around. "I guess you've already figured out how I know your dad."

He felt like saying something nasty in return, but didn't. He nodded stiffly and decided to be honest_. "You wouldn't know how uncomfortable this is for me. You seem right at home, though."_

Rose waved her thin hand as if to dismiss the statement. "I just don't let little things like that bother me."

Little things? It was pretty big, if you asked him. _"So, did you know anything about me before you came here?"_

"Sure. I basically heard about a mute little blond kid; I expected you to be younger, really."

_I would think so,_ he thought. He asked her how old she was.

"Fourteen. I think you're a year older, right?" He nodded. "Thought so. Didn't really know, though, Daddy didn't tell me that much about you."

For some reason that sentence made Joseph want to punch her. But not being a voilent person, he finally signed, _"Why did you end up here?"_

"Am I really that unwanted?" Yes. "My mom went away for work and didn't want to leave me home alone. I guess she was afraid I'd burn the house down again or something. So, are you going to show me around the neighborhood like your mom asked?"

Sure...

**-T-**

Joseph was woken early the next morning by a loud crash in the next room and then a radio blasting rock music. He practically fell out of bed from the blast of the racket, but he caught himself on the guitar case beside his bed before he hit the floor. He heard a door slam down the hall and voices yelling, so he got up and pulled on some clothes to go see what was going on. Rose's bedroom door was open, revealing that the radio in her room was the source of the music. Addie stood in the doorway in a robe, yelling, "Rose, turn that music off!"

"What?" Rose yelled back. "Can't hear you."

"Rose!"

Joseph walked into the room and brought a fist gently down onto the radio button, and it switched off. Addie sighed, pushed back her hair, and lowered her voice. "Rose. Please don't turn your music up that loud. Especially this early in the morning. Now go get ready for school, and I'll drive you both there."

Rose shrugged and mumbled something about 'music haters', and she got a glare from Joseph. Little did she know, music and art were his life. He found it a way to express himself, especially after the misunderstanding years ago that had cost him his voice.

The ride to school was quite loud, since Rose talked about anything and everything the whole way. Joseph sat in the front passenger's seat and leaned against the window, attempting to ignore her but finding it quite hard. There was something about her voice that just made him want to cover his ears, and it had been like that from the minute they had met. He wasn't one to dislike someone right after first meeting them, but his half sister (and he was uncomfortable with calling her that, but he didn't know how else to classify her) was good at making herself unlikable. He wasn't used to boisterous people, and besides, she had just showed up out of the blue and happened to be his father's daughter that no one seemed to have ever known about. Well, Joseph planned on finding out more about her one way or another. Just flat out asking her was too stressful.

They pulled up in front of the high school, and Addie unlocked the doors. Rose grabbed her few books and jumped out of the car impatiently, and Addie turned to face her son. "Now Joe, try to make Rose feel as comfortable as possible. It might only be a week or so that she's here, but we've got to try. I know you can do a better job than I can."

After she said the last sentence, Joseph realized that she was as uncomfortable and ticked with this situation as he was, and he didn't blame her. It was obvious that her husband had cheated on her years ago, and the result was hard to deal with. Joseph wondered what Addie would say to Slade when he got home from his business trip.

Joseph had to admit that he kind of missed his older brother Grant, though the two had clashed repeatedly with each other a lot before Grant moved away a few months ago after he turned eighteen. His brother had been a show off and sort of a loudmouth, but after living with Rose for a day, Joseph decided he would rather have ten Grants than one Rose.

Addie leaned back and kissed his forehead, then patted his shoulder. "Try to put up with her as best you can." Then she drove away after Joe got out of the car.

"You need to show me to my first class, you know. I don't want to be late on my first day," Rose said as they walked with other kids into the school.

Joseph shrugged. He had no idea where her first class would be, so he thought it would be easiest just to drop her off at the principal's office and let him take care of her. And besides, he had his own schedule to keep as well, and he honestly didn't want to waste time sorting things out with Rose.

_"Go down that hall and turn right, and you'll find the principal's office,"_ he signed. _"They'll tell you what to do."_

Rose hugged her books to her chest. "I don't know anybody here."

_You didn't know me either, but that didn't stop you from being weird,_ Joey thought. But he just smiled to reassure her that it would be all right.

She followed his directions down the hall, and he sighed with relief after she disappeared from sight. He had sometimes wondered what it would be like to have a little sister, but he had never pictured it like this. Rose wasn't just annoying; something about her seemed almost dangerous.

On break after the first class, Jared Thomas stopped Joseph in the hall. "I heard you got a sister coming to this school now."

Jared didn't even understand sign language, so why bother to answer? Joey just looked at him, trying to communicate with his eyes that he wanted Jared to mind his own business. Did Joseph feel protective of Rose? Not really. She seemed perfectly capable of taking care of herself; shoot, it might be better fit if she watched out for him.

Joseph turned to walk away, but there was a sudden loud explosion, and he jumped to the ground and tried to protect his head with his hands. He felt bits of metal shrapnel hit his back, and when all seemed clear he raised his head and was shocked to see the lockers were nearly blown clear out of the wall. Jared was sitting beside him, looking dazed, cursing confusedly under his breath.

Still on his stomach, Joseph saw a roundish piece of broken metal laying beside him, and he picked it up to get a better look at it. When he brushed some of the ashes away, he could make out an orange _S_ on the middle of it. It almost appeared to be some sort of bomb.

"Woohoo!" came a loud whoop from down the hall. Joseph set the piece of metal back on the ground and pushed himself up from the ground as Rose came literally running down the hall. "Wasn't that just awesome!"

"What did you do?" Joey signed angrily, then siezed her arm.

"I was just having a little fun, good grief."

Joseph stared at her in disbelief as the principal and teachers came running from every direction. Rose wasn't just different, or even weird; she was out-and-out crazy!


	3. Chapter 3

Joseph awoke early the next morning to bright sunshine and someone sitting on his bed beside him. He pulled the covers from his face and saw Rose, her long white hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a small t-shirt and blue jean shorts. He smiled at her, but she just grabbed his arm and shook him.

"Get up," she said. "It's time to go."

Joseph looked at the clock and discovered that he still had half an hour to sleep. He looked at Rose in confusion, but she punched him in the shoulder and told him to get up again. "You jog to school every morning, right?" He sat up and nodded, rubbing his eyes. He was still half asleep and had no idea why she wanted to know. "I wanna join you."

Well that was nice. A little too nice for Rose, in fact. Joseph woke up enough to sign, _"I thought you were suspended."_

"I am, but can I just go with you until we reach campus?"

_"Sure."_ He hadn't seen her this interested in what he was doing before, and he couldn't help that it made him a little suspicious, but he decided to just let her come with him unless she did something weird again.

People were still wondering how she had managed to pull a prank as serious as putting a bomb in the school lockers. It was a wonder she wasn't expelled, but for some odd reason she was merely suspended for a week. Joseph seemed to be the only one that had suspicions about the bomb itself, which the police had examined but didn't have much to say about. He knew he had seen that orange _S _logo before, but he wasn't sure where or when. And Addie had freaked out when she found out what had happened, wearing an expression the rest of the day that made her seem like she wanted to strangle Rose on the spot.

Now Rose left the room and Joseph got up and changed clothes, then managed to quickly comb his wavy blond hair before hearing Rose yelling at him from the kitchen to hurry up. He grabbed his backpack and went to the living room, where he met up with Rose and they left the apartment room.

As they jogged down the flights of stairs to get to the bottom floor of the building, Rose asked if he ever took the bus to school, and he shook his head, glad that she didn't ask why. Avoiding Jared Thomas was not an easy task.

"At my other schools," Rose said as they left the building and headed down the sidewalk, "I was expelled three times before I just dropped out and decided to stay home. I had better things to do, anyway."

Joseph couldn't really use sign language while jogging, so he just looked at her questioningly. She explained that she had always been very passionate about martial arts, and it was the only thing that made her relax, "believe it or not. Kinda like you and art or music."

So now he understood when she used that example. Except his music and art didn't get him kicked out of school. He slowed down a little and signed,_ "Why exacty were you expelled?"_

"Different reasons with different schools," she replied. "Fighting, mainly. I could whip every kid in those places. So, do you know any fight moves?"

He nodded slightly. _"I learned a lot from my older brother, but he moved out this year. We haven't really heard from him since."_

"You miss him?"

Joseph thought that was a good question. He didn't even know himself, so he couldn't really answer. He just shrugged.

The school bus came around the corner and drove past them slowly, and Jared Thomas pulled open a window and threw something hard at Joseph, which he dodged just in time. It skidded across the sidewalk and appeared to be a rock. What in the world? "Screw you, Wilson!" Jared yelled.

Rose waved a fist and yelled back, "Shut-up, jerk!" She grabbed his rock and chucked it at the bus, and it hit his window squarely, though it missed his face. Joseph was almost glad for that. When the bus was out of sight, she turned to him and said, "Was he talking to me or you?"

Joseph pointed at himself. _"That guy's a real problem for me,"_ he signed. _"I think he hates me."_

Rose smashed a fist into her open palm. "When I get back in school, I'm gonna crush him."

Joseph didn't know if she was saying this to defend him or if she just liked to fight. Either way, he touched her arm and shook his head. _"No, you'd better not. You'll get suspended again."_

She shrugged. "Not like it hasn't happened before. But come on, you're gonna be late if we don't hurry up."

She was right, so they continued at a sprint until they reached the school. They stopped to catch their breath a moment, and Joseph noticed that she was fairly muscely for a girl. When she had said she worked out a lot, she had obviously been telling the truth. He wondered if he could join her sometime, but he heard the bell before he could ask.

"Well, see ya," she said. "I'm gonna go back to the apartment and help your mom with some stuff."

Joseph waved at her, and she turned around and ran back the way they had came. Rose, helping with stuff? What had gotten into her? Joseph hadn't known what to think about her at first, but after today she seemed that she might be all right.

He went inside and hurried to his first class, barely getting there in time to avoid a scolding from the teacher. He slid into his desk and saw that he was sitting in front of the brunette Lisa Hensely again today. Not that that was a problem, but he just felt a little uncomfortable around her. She had been crushing on him since he had first came to the school, and by the way she was batting her eyelashes all the time, she didn't care to hide it. Which was what she was doing now. Joseph blushed and hovered over his book, bashfully ignoring her. He heard her move, and a note was slipped onto his desk. He glanced at the teacher to make sure she wasn't looking, then opened it slightly and saw that Lisa was requesting to meet him after school. He quickly scribbled down that he would, then passed it back to her, embarrassed at her beaming smile as she read his reply.

Something hit him in the shoulder and landed on his desk, and he opened it, revealing a simply drawn skull. He glanced up at Jared Thomas, who glared and flipped a bird at him. Joseph looked away and crushed the paper in his fist, then dropped it into his backpack. The teacher obviously saw the note passing, but she just frowned and amazingly didn't say anything.

Later in the cafeteria, Joseph sat at a table alone. He was one of those people where everybody either loved or hated him, and there seemed to be no in-between. Mostly the guys hated him, and the girls had crushes on him, which the latter made him feel a little shy.

"Hi," a female voice said. Lisa was standing beside him, holding her lunch tray. "Can I sit here?" He smiled and nodded, and she sat down in the chair across from him. "So, have you been getting as much homework as I have?"

_"Probably,"_ he signed. He was glad she understood sign language, though there were some words that she didn't know. He almost suspected she had learn it just to talk to him. _"It's Mr. Johnson, mainly."_

"Yeah, he's pretty tough on everybody," she said, tearing open a milk carton. She took a drink, then dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "Where's your sister?"

_"Well, she's my half sister, really. And she's suspended."_

"Already? But she just got here, like, yesterday."

He nodded. _"Did you hear about that bomb in the lockers?"_

"Yeah. She did that? Oh my gosh! Why?"

_"Probably her idea of a prank, I guess."_

Lisa looked confused. "What?"

_"Her idea of a prank."_ When she still looked at him blankly, he tried a different word. _"It was her joke she played on the school."_

She looked embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry, I'm not as fluent in sign language as you are."

_"It's okay, I know it's hard to learn. It took me forever." _He suddenly wondered if she knew why he was mute. A lot of kids didn't, and most didn't care. But she didn't ask.

"Yeah. So, you like art, don't you?"

Now here was something he could really talk about. _"Yes, I've always liked to paint and draw. How about you?"_

"I like it, but I'm not the best. Drawing's my thing, really. I couldn't paint a stick if I tried."

Joseph laughed his silent laugh. By now he was used to being totally quiet, but right after the ordeal that had cost him his voice, he had nearly lost his mind with the frustration of being unable to make a sound.

They had barely eaten anything when the bell rang that signaled them to get back to class. "Well, I'd better go. See you after school?" Lisa said.

Joseph nodded.

**-T-**

The rest of the day seemed to go by very slowly, and Joseph was tired when it was time to meet Lisa under the flagpole, but he got his books and went out to meet her because he had said he would. Also, she was funny and pleasant to be around, and he felt like he might like her if they got to know each other better. He had had to keep his school books in his backpack the whole day, since most of the lockers were unusuable, though they were in the process of being repaired, and now he had the job of carrying the heavy books all the way home. Oh well. Endurance.

He went outside and saw Lisa leaning against the flagpole, and he waved. He caught her eye, and she waved back enthusiastically. Looking at her from a distance, Joseph thought she was very pretty. Her straight brown hair reached her shoulder blades, and she was fairly skinny and about 5'7, his height. Today she was wearing a tank top and jeans, and somehow managed a jacket, despite the heat. The temperature didn't usually get this high in Tibet, but you never knew about the weather.

"Hey Joey," she said when he reached her, and he waved as they walked across the street. Once on the other side, he let his backpack drop to the ground. He didn't want to seem like he was complaining, but he didn't want to have to hold it any longer than he had to either.

_"What's up?"_ he signed.

"Nothing. What are you doing you doing after school?"

Joseph thought for a moment. _"Just homework."_

"Do you want to come over to my house? We could do ours together." She seemed to love the thought of that.

_"All right, sure."_

"Good. I-" Her smile suddenly faded as she looked beyond Joseph's shoulder. He turned to look too, and soon discovered what had made her suddenly silent. Jared Thomas came walking over to them with an expression of fury on his face.

Joseph stiffened angrily as Jared grabbed Lisa around the waist and attempted to pull her close to him, though she was trying to shove him away. "Back off, Blondie," he growled. "Get your own girl."

"Jared, get off me," Lisa said, struggling to get away from him. "And I'm not your girl, okay? Leave me alone and let me talk to Joseph in peace."

"Quiet, baby. Me and Blondie here have a few things to settle."

"No! Just go away."

Joseph touched Lisa's shoulder to encourage her to be quiet, but Jared's fist met his face and knocked him back onto the grass, drawing blood from his mouth. Lisa screeched slightly and tried to grab Jared, but he shoved her away and jumped onto Joseph, pinning him to the ground and throwing hard punches, which Joseph managed to dodge or block, though he did it with great difficulty.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you little punk!" Jared yelled.

Joseph struggled and finally planted a knee hard into the other boy's stomach, knocking the breath out of him and shoving him off. Jared tried to jump forward again, but Lisa latched onto his arm with both hands and held on with all of her might. "Jared, stop!"

"I'm gonna kill him!" he growled.

"No! Stop it, okay? Just quit," she said, still holding onto his arm tightly. After a few seconds, Jared sat back and caught his breath, but Joseph didn't move from the ground in fear of getting jumped again.

"I don't want him near you," Jared said to Lisa, and she looked away. "If he does, I'll kill him. If not on campus, then somewhere else. Got it?" He stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes, shot Joseph an evil look, and walked away.

Lisa stood up and helped Joseph to his feet. "I'm really sorry," she said. "Are you okay?" When he nodded, she continued. "Jared tends to be a little... possessive sometimes. And I want to, but I really can't be around you. I'm sorry."

_"What? You're going to do what he says? Why?"_

"Because he'll hurt you if I don't. I don't doubt that he will." She dabbed his bleeding lip with the back of her finger. "I'm sorry. But it's only a matter of time before he gets expelled from this place, so then we won't have to worry about him anymore. Won't that be the day?" Then her brief smile faded, and she hugged herself. "I have to go. I'm really sorry." And she hurried away.

Joseph stood on the sidewalk, still in slight shock at the whole situation. The pain in his mouth wasn't even the problem, it was about Lisa. One minute he had been on his way to her house to do homework with her, and now she didn't want to be around him. Well, no. She wanted to be around him, she just felt like she couldn't because of Jared. For a second Joseph wished for the day when someone wiped the floor with Jared Thomas.

He automatically picked up his heavy backpack and walked to his house, not really sure of what he was doing until he reached his apartment. He moved to open the door, but froze when he heard angry voices from inside. Was his father home? Yes, it sounded like it. And his mother was off work early again, obviously.

Joseph took a deep breath and opened the door, only to be assaulted with foul language and loud voices, which stopped when he came inside. Rose was standing silently in the hall. Slade was sitting in a chair and running a hand through his white hair and frowning behind his eye patch, and Addie was perched against the back of the couch with her arms crossed.

"Hello, Joseph," she said in a tone as if all this was his fault. No one seemed to notice his dirty clothes and bleeding lip. "Why don't you sit down? Your father and Rose have something to tell us."

And by the sound of her voice, whatever it was about was serious.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to everybody who reviewed!

**-T-**

Addie took Joseph gently by the wrist and led him to a chair in the corner of the living room, finally noticing the blood on his lip and dabbing it with a finger. He flinched slightly, but his attention was on his father who was leaned forward in his chair with his fingers entwined, staring expressionless at the back of Addie's head, until she turned around to face him.

"Well? Tell us, Slade," she said firmly. When he was silent, she said, "Do you really think that I ever fell for your story of 'being away on business'? You're an auto mechanic! What could you possibly be doing? How come you never want to tell me about your trips when you come home, claiming to be too _tired? _And what does Rose have to do with it?I'm sick of just wondering, and I want to know now."

Slade stood up from his chair and walked slowly to the window, his hands clasped behind his muscular back. He glanced over his shoulder at his wife and smiled slightly. "Addie, don't you remember the buisness we used to be so caught up in? One of the reasons we met, you know?" He paced in a circle around her, then said in his slow, deep, nearly hypnotizing voice, "Did you think that merely becoming a father was going to stop what I enjoyed to do? No, it wouldn't."

Addie lowered her voice as if she didn't want Joseph to hear, though he was sitting right next to her. "We had an agreement when we had kids, Slade. Whatever happened to just being a normal family? That's what _I_ wanted."

"Don't make this difficult, Adelaine."

"You think _I'm_ making this difficult? So what are you now, Slade, a mercenary? A bounty hunter? What?"

Slade stood beside Rose and put a hand on her shoulder, a tiny smile on his face. "Maybe I'm more than you think I am. Don't worry, Addie, it won't be any of your concern if you don't let it be."

But while he was talking, Addie's gaze fell on Rose, and her face suddenly went pale and her eyes widened. Joseph was alarmed at her expression, and he stood up and touched her arm in concern. She either ignored him or didn't feel him. Her eyes snapped up to her husband's face and she swallowed hard. "Slade," she said very slowly, "where's Grant?"

Joseph thought that was a strange question to be asked in this situation. Grant was away at college, did she just forget or was there something else? He was alarmed that his heart was pounding, and he realized something definitely ominous was going on here.

"Where? Where's my son?" Addie exclaimed frantically, nearly yelling now.

Slade pushed Rose to the side and let his hands fall on Addie's shoulders. She stared up at his face wildly, nearly in a panic. When he didn't answer, she beat his chest with her fists and screamed, "Tell me where my son is!"

Joseph blinked hard with every word she said. As quiet and gentle as he was, he wasn't used to this kind of yelling, and as frantic as his mother was, it nearly scared him. She was usually levelheaded and calm, but at this moment she was almost going crazy.

"Addie," Slade said as he grabbed her wrists, his expression not changing in the least, "stop this. Get a hold of yourself."

"Tell me," Addie said, close to tears. "Where's Grant?"

Slade looked down at her, then he glanced at Joseph briefly, who was staring at his father intently, clearly wanting to hear the answer to his mother's question as well. "Let's talk about this in the hall."

"No, we'll talk here. Now just tell me!"

"Addie," Slade said, his voice level and his expression hard, "Grant's dead."

She pulled away from him and stared at him in horror, shaking her head. "Liar. You're lying. My son is not dead."

"He is, Adelaine."

"What did you _do_ to him?"

Slade didn't answer, and Joseph put a hand on the wall to steady himself. His brother, dead? But it was so impossible; Grant seemed nearly invincible, so skilled in self defense. How could he have just died? Joseph wanted to ask the question, but no one was looking at him to see him sign.

"I don't like it anymore than you do," Slade said. "But Rose and I-"

"Shut-up!" Addie yelled. "I don't care, I just don't care about you anymore! Wasn't it enough that you gambled with Joey's life years ago? And now Grant?" She broke down in hysterical crying, sobbing into her hands and not even bothering to hold back at all. Joseph was still in shock at the news, but he reached over and touched his mother's arm to comfort her. But she only cried harder.

Rose looked at Slade with a blank expression on her face, and the two of them almost seemed to be communicating telepathically, if that was possible. Rose shook her head slightly, then turned to Addie when the woman took a deep breath and spoke again.

"Slade, I want you to leave," she said, raising her tear-streaked face from her hands and glaring at him with hatred. "Get out of here. You're nothing but a gambling, murderous, fool. And I never want to see you again. So get your things and get out of here, and take your _daughter_ with you."

The spat the word 'daughter' off her tongue as if it were venom in her mouth, and then she turned away on her heel and walked into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

After a few moments of silence, Slade reached over and grabbed Joseph's shoulder, turning him around to face him. "Joseph, I'm going to give you an opportunity that I suggest you do not pass up. Your mother is obviously enveloped in her grief, and she's not going to be in the mental shape to take care of you." He pointed at his son's green eyes. "You have a gift that makes you quite unique, you know. If I were you, I wouldn't just sit around wasting it. Now Rose and I are are leaving, at your mother's request, of course, but I want to ask you a question first."

Joseph shook his head and pulled back to where he had enough room to sign. _"I just found out my brother died, why are you doing this?"_

"I told you, it's a great opportunity."

Joseph shook his head harder, refusing to listen to what his father had to say next. Whatever he was wanting, it was more than likely for selfish and destructive reasons. Joseph tried to pull away, but Slade held tight to his arms, only to make him struggle more. The boy wasn't much of a physical fighter, but for some reason being held by his father like this made him frantic, and he thrashed with all his might to get away, but his father held him in place effortlessly until Joseph instinctively tried to kick him in the shins. Suddenly Slade's face contorted in anger, and he let go of his son's left arm and slapped him across each side of his face with one hand. Joseph stopped struggling and stared at his father in shock. His parents had never hit him before.

"Now, Joseph," Slade said, taking him by both arms again, but this time lifting him clear off the ground and pulling him closer to his face, "I'm only going to warn you so many times." After a few seconds of glaring, he shoved Joseph to the ground and looked down at him mercilessly. "I may be going now, but don't think I won't be back."

Without even getting any of his belongings, Slade took Rose by the shoulder and led her out of the apartment, not even bothering to look back once.

**-T-**

Joseph woke up the next morning to his alarm clock buzzing loudly on the nighttable beside him. For a moment, he couldn't remember what had gone on the day before, then he clouded over again, still numb from the facts that his brother was dead and his father was gone. He looked slowly around his room, reluctant to move but knowing he had to. The world didn't stop for him, and he knew it never would.

He got out of bed and slowly got ready for school, knocking lightly on his mother's bedroom door before walking to school. He heard her sobbing die down as if she was holding her breath, and he figured that meant she didn't want to talk. He grabbed his backpack and left the apartment, jogging all the way to school and this time not really noticing the weight of his pack and schoolbooks.

He arrived to class and slid into his desk just in time, glancing behind him at Lisa as he opened his books. She appeared almost sad and seemed to look right through him at the teacher. Joseph turned back to his book in a daze.

Today he didn't have a problem with sleeping in class, but merely paying attention. The teacher, knowing that Joseph was usually a straight-A student and very attentive in school, appeared not to know what to do at his sudden change in attitude. He appeared almost sick, so she considered sending him home early or at least to the nurse, but didn't think she could hold his attention long enough to tell him.

On break between classes, Joseph saw Lisa in the hall and decided that he might as well try to talk to her. If Jared saw, then so what, Joseph didn't care. Not today. He walked over to her and waved slightly, and though it was obvious that she saw him, she just looked away. Joseph grabbed her back strap, and she stopped, looking at him long enough to where he could communicate.

_"Lisa, why are you avoiding me?"_

She shook her head. "Joseph, I've got to go."

_"You're letting him control you. I'm not afraid of him-"_

"I don't now what you're talking about. Now I have to go." She walked away and left him standing there feeling crushed.

"Have you ever thought of the fact that she just doesn't want to talk to you?" Jared's voice said. Joseph turned around to face him and glared challengingly. He would normally just avoid the confrontation, but not this day. He ground his teeth together and was dying to say something, but Jared did not understand sign language. The older boy continued. "Just leave her alone, punk. She's _my_ girl, remember?" He planted both fists in Joseph's shoulders and shoved him backwards.

If he had a knife today, Joseph was afraid he would stab this boy. He stepped forward and shoved him back just as hard, which seemed to surprise Jared, but he recovered quickly and cracked his knuckles. "All right, you wanna go at it that way, huh? Bring it on!"

Joseph stood there as Jared jumped foward, then threw up a fist to block the oncoming punch. His small frame at least served a good fighting purpose, and it allowed him to move and dodge quickly. He avoided the next few grabs and punches, then took a step backwards to give himself leverage and kicked Jared Thomas up under the chin so hard he smashed against the wall.

In complete shock, Jared quickly recovered and pulled himself up from the floor, making sure he was seeing correctly. This was Joseph Wilson he was fighting with, wasn't it? Yes. But right now he looked unusually, well, _angry._ Jared spit blood onto the floor and grinned at the large crowd that had gathered around them.

"Kill him, Jared!" a boy yelled, and then the whole slew of them started chanting, "Fight, fight, fight!"

Joseph wasn't used to this many eyes being on him at one time, and under normal circumstances would feel shy at all the attention, but right now most of them just wanted to see him get beat up, and he didn't care. He quickly evaded a few punches from Jared, then kicked the other boy in the face three times before he even knew what was happening. As Jared took a step back to take a breath, Joseph realized that watching Grant's martial arts training had come to serve him well now. He closed his eyes briefly in grief. _Grant._ It was so hard to believe that his brother was dead.

Closing his eyes was a mistake, for when he opened them he saw Jared's large fist, and he took the punch to his face and was knocked hard onto the tile floor. A lot of boys in the crowd whooped gleefully as Jared dove on the smaller boy, throwing punches crazily and actually finding his mark this time.

Joseph had never been punched so hard, and he was practically choking on his own blood. He growled silently and tried to move his arms up to protect his face, but Jared's knees were pinning his wrists to the floor. The crowd of kids were yelling indistinctly now, but Joey heard Lisa's voice in the crowd screaming, "Jared, stop!"

Joseph hadn't gotten into this fight just to be pulverized into the floor. He drove both feet into Jared's stomach and kicked him off with a force he didn't know he had. Once the other boy was off, he sat up, nearly in a rage, and suddenly knew how he could beat this guy.

He remembered his father's words. _"You have a gift that makes you quite unique, you know. If I were you, I wouldn't just sit around wasting it." _But Slade didn't understand that Joseph wanted to keep it a secret. Why, he didn't know, but how many other teenage kids had mutant superpowers? Well, the news of his brother's death and the stress at home had driven him to the end of his rope. He usually calmed himself down by playing the guitar or drawing, but neither of those wouldn't help his situation now. As far as he saw it, he was being forced to fight.

"I'm gonna kill you, kid," Jared growled as Joseph stood up from the ground. "You've been asking for it, and I'm gonna kill you."

Joey stood still and waited for Jared to come forward to make his move, which he did at a full run. Joseph stood his ground and waited for the boy to get a little closer, then stared intently into his brown eyes and hoped he wouldn't regret what he was about to do.

Joseph's eyes glowed green and black, and Jared suddenly stopped in his tracks, almost mesmerized. Then Joseph faded literally into Jared, and the older boy was now possessed, his eye color now a dull green.

A few girls in the crowd screamed, most of the people in disbelief at what they had just seen. Joseph knew it was only a matter of time before the teachers and principal came running to stop the fight, but he took a few moments to discover a little bit about Jared's mind. He had full control over this body now, the thoughts, the movements, and the voice. It'd be nice to be able to speak again, even if it wasn't his body, but Joseph knew he had to act fast if he wanted to get anything done, which he really didn't, but felt pressured to do so. As strange as it looked, Joseph drove Jared's fist into his own face, and proceeded to give this guy what he deserved.

A few teachers had heard the commotion and came running from the break room to stop the fight in the hall, but they froze in their tracks when they turned a corner and saw Jared Thomas literally punching himself!

"What is that kid _doing?_" one of the teachers exclaimed. "He's- he's hitting his own face! What in the world?"

They saw Jared knock himself back into the wall with another hard punch, and they knew they had better do something before this kid killed himself. They ran over and grabbed his arms. "Thomas, will you stop? You're going to really hurt yourself."

Jared looked up at them, his eyes appearing to suddenly be green, when he went limp in their arms and Joseph Wilson jumped out of his body and landed on the floor in a somersault.

"Holy crap!" a young substitute teacher exclaimed. "What the heck just happened here? Or am I seeing things?"

Another teacher shook her head at him, her mouth wide open. "No, you're not seeing things." The entire crowd around him stared at Joseph as he stood up from the floor and wiped the blood from his face with his hand.

"That kid's jinxed!" a boy in the crowd yelled. "He's a freak!"

"So?" Lisa yelled back. She walked up to Joseph and held onto his arm. "At least he's a nice freak."

Joseph decided to take that as a compliment.

"Hey, wait a minute," the substitute teacher said. "You're one of those people with the weird powers- like a superhero; or a villain."

"You read too many comics," another teacher said. "Get this kid outta here and find out what's going on with this 'power' thing. Call his parents. Oh yeah, and I want him suspended, superpowers or not."

**-T-**

Joseph went home later that day, the bruises on his face throbbing all the way there. He had never really used his powers in public before, especially not at his school, but now that the secret was out, he really just wanted to be somewhere where he could fit in. Everyone in the school thought he was freak, even Lisa, though at least she had said he was nice.

He got to his apartment around three o'clock and discovered that Addie hadn't even gone to work that morning. She was laying on the couch when he came in, but jumped up quickly and grabbed him in a fierce hug when he got inside. "Oh, Joseph." She leaned him back and looked at his face. "What happened to you? Did you get in a fight?"

He nodded slightly, and she took him to the bathroom and cleaned his wounds, talking as she did so.

"I feel a little, well, under the weather right now, and as much as I don't want to talk about this... I don't believe a word your father says about Grant." Her bottom lip quivered when she said her oldest son's name. "So I want you to go to his college and find out what happened. Can you do that for me?"

_"By myself?"_ he signed.

"I'm really not up to going, honey, and I'd know you'd be okay. Woudn't you?"

_"But it's all the way in the United States."_

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," she said, but she looked disappointed.

Joseph flinched as she touched an antiseptic to his bleeding lip, but signed, _"I'll go. For you." _But he just wasn't sure what exactly he was going to find when got there. He figured probably more than his mother expected.


	5. Chapter 5

Joseph Wilson buckled his seatbelt on the first class of a 747 airplane on flight to America and laid a protective hand over his left pocket. Though he didn't expect to stay in the United States for long, Addie had given him enough money to last more than a month on his own, and he felt that storing about half of it in his pocket was safer than putting it somewhere else. The other half he had put in his guitar case, which was somewhere in the back of the plane with the rest of the luggage. He had always been taught that carrying that kind of money on you would give more of a chance of getting robbed, but he didn't think he really had a choice at this point. In his opinion, the money being on himself would have it far more protected.

He hadn't brought much with him, only one small suitcase, his guitar, and his backpack, which was mostly filled with art supplies and music sheets and was in the compartment above his seat. He had only packed a few changes of clothes, and today he was wearing a white shirt with long sleeves and gold wristbands under a violet vest that extended past his gold beltline and over his black pants. His calf-length boots matched the color of his vest and were topped with gold bands. He glanced to the right at his seatmate which was on the window side, a middle-aged man with dark hair, dress clothes, and a laptop. He typed slowly and glanced at his watch every now and then, obviously waiting for the plane to take off like everyone else. A baby screamed across the aisle, its mother cooing and trying to comfort it, but to no avail. The pilot's voice came over the intercom and announced that the plane was getting ready for take off.

Joe had been on an airplane only once before for a third grade field trip, but he had never flown on one, especially by himself. In fact, he could hardly remember doing anything alone, but Addie had let him -actually requested that he do it- this time because she was so grief-stricken over Grant. Though he was also upset, Joseph didn't think she should cry just yet. After the things said yesterday, it was obvious that Slade was a liar and was hiding more than they had thought he was. He could have easily lied about Grant, but why would he? Joseph frowned. Grant was Slade's son just as much as Addie's, did he just not care? If the story was true, Slade either didn't care that his oldest son was dead or he didn't show it. But what if it was a lie? What kind of father would make up a story like that about his own son, and for what reason?

Joseph must have had an awful expression on, for the man beside him looked at him funny, probably wondering why that skinny blond kid was throwing dirty looks to the back of the seat in front of him. Joseph realized what he was doing and turned to smile at the man, who just raised an eyebrow and turned back to his computer.

Joey had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't realized the plane was moving until now. He suddenly wondered if he would have to change the time on his watch when they went through time zones, but he had never done that before either and decided not to bother with it until he reached California.

The man beside him seemed to have traveled on planes many times before, as he didn't even look up from his laptop as the plane took to the air. Joseph looked past the man's shoulder and watched the ground below get smaller, knowing that Addie was somewhere down below at the airport, probably still watching the plane. She had gone through a checklist of everything that he would need, then hugged him to her chest for nearly fifteen minutes straight until it was time to board the plane. Right before he had left her, she grabbed him by the arm and sternly told him to be careful. Well, she didn't have to tell him twice. Though he might not look like it at first glance, he could watch out for himself.

An hour or so into the flight, a Hispanic flight attendant walked down the hall and asked everyone individually if they needed anything. When she got to Joseph, she asked the same question, and he suddenly realized that it was going to be hard to communicate with her. This early into his trip and he had already made a mistake. He was so used to most of the people he knew knowing sign language that he didn't even think about the ones he would encounter that didn't. Addie obviously hadn't thought about it either; but she hadn't seemed to be thinking about much lately. He held up a finger to signal the woman to wait, and he stood up and took his backpack down from the compartment above his head, pulling out a sketch pad and a pencil. As he wrote down that he would like a soda, please, the man beside him once again gave him a strange look, but Joseph just smiled at him and handed the paper to the flight attendant. She read it and handed it back.

"Sure thing, sweetie," she said in a thick accent. She looked at the man in the business suit. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"No," he said flatly.

The woman walked away and ran a hand across Joseph's hair as she passed. He smiled at her again and knew that he was lucky to be able to communicate with her this time, but later on with other people it was going to different. And no doubt the rest of this trip was going to be tough.

**-T-**

He must have fallen asleep later on, because Joseph was suddenly waking up to the intercom again, signaling that the plane was preparing for a smooth landing. He put his seat belt back on and glanced at the man beside him again, who was staring straight ahead with his arms crossed tight across his chest. Joey wondered what time it was and looked at his watch, but knew they were in a different time zone now and that his watch was pretty much useless. It was more helpful to just look out the window and see whether the sun was up or not, but it was pitch black outside.

The pilot had been right when predicting a smooth landing, and once the plane had touched down and the engine shut off, the door was opened and the flight attendant was telling people when and how to get off. When only some of them did, Joseph suddenly wondered if this was even his stop. The flight attendant came over to him after a few minutes and touched his shoulder.

"Is this your first flight, and are you alone?" she asked, smiling broadly with her teeth showing.

Joseph answered both questions with a nod, and the flight attendant pulled his backpack down from the compartment and handed it to him. "If you're headed to California, honey, we're at Jump City airport now. Your stop's here."

He took his backpack from her and stood up, patting her arm in appreciation and smiling. She directed him to the steps and waved as he got off the plane. He walked towards the airport to retrieve the rest of his belongings and suddenly realized his felt nearly sick. He figured food and a comfortable sleep would probably help that, and he went in search of a hotel after he got his suitcase and his guitar.

He felt uncomfortable walking on the dark streets of a strange place he'd never been in before, especially a city this size. He had never seen buildings so tall and so close together, except on TV. A phone booth caught his eye and he went inside, setting down his things and picking up the phone book that was chained to the wall. Finding a hotel this way would be easy, but getting there would be the hard part. After figuring out what street he was on and writing down the address of the nearest hotel, he picked up his stuff and went outside to flag down a taxi. Even though it was night, it didn't take long, and when he got inside and the cabbie asked 'where to', Joseph pressed the paper with the hotel's address into his hand and sat back. The cabbie shrugged and drove away from the curb.

"Don't talk much, do you?" he said, glancing at his passenger in the rearview mirror.

_I only wish I could, _Joseph thought, but he just shook his head. Let the man think what he wanted. Everyone didn't have to know that he was mute.

"Where are your parents?" the man asked.

Joseph just looked him in the eye and didn't answer. Even if he could tell the man, he wouldn't.

"Oh, that's right, rude question. None of my buisness, huh?"

Joseph hoped all of the people in this city weren't like this. He didn't know why the cabbie was so persistent on finding out, or why he cared. He wished he would just drive, and after awhile he did.

They reached the fancy hotel after awhile, and Joseph grabbed his stuff and paid the man after he was told how much he owed. He would have tipped if he knew how, but he just wanted to get a room and go to sleep. He went inside and stood at the counter, putting everything on the floor except his guitar and looking expectantly at the woman behind the counter.

"Can I help you?" she said, entwining her thin fingers and leaning forward in her chair.

Joseph held up two fingers and only hoped she would understand. Thank goodness, she did.

"You want a room for how long, two night?" He nodded. She named the price and he raised an eyebrow. It sure was expensive at this place, but he didn't really care at the moment. He paid her the money and she handed him a key as she told him what floor and what room number he would be using, then asked if he needed help finding it. He shook his head, and after picking up his luggage, got in the elevator and found the room more quickly than he thought he would. He was surprised at the elegance of the place, and was excited to have all this space and even a fancy bathroom to himself. He wanted to take a shower but was afraid he'd fall asleep while doing it, so he just threw his clothes onto the floor and fell into the queen sized bed, nearly smothering in the softness of it. His own mattress would feel like a bed of nails after this, and when he thought of home he was almost home sick, but not quite. He would be absolutely thrilled with being on his own if it wasn't for the circumstances of finding out the truth about his brother's death. He would somehow find Grant's college in the morning and get to the bottom of what was going on, but he fell asleep while thinking about it.

**-T-**

"Mr. Wilson, there's a phone call for you," a female voice said through the door the next morning.

Joseph had just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed in the clothes he wore the day before, his hair wet. After coming to California he saw that he should have packed t-shirts and shorts for the trip instead of long sleeves and jeans. The weather here was much warmer than in Tibet.

He wasn't used to being called Mr. Wilson and wasn't sure if the woman was talking to him at first, but it dawned on him quickly. He opened the door and the woman said that she would put the call on the line for him.

He picked up the phone, wondering who in the world would be calling and how they had found him. Then he was glad when he heard his mother's voice.

"Joseph?" He smiled and tapped the phone twice. She sighed with relief. "I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. Don't try to say anything, I'll take silence as a posotive answer. Well, I'm sure you're wondering how I found you, but I'll explain later when you come home. Just try to be careful and come back as soon as you can, okay? I haven't heard anything from _your father_-" she hissed those two words, "-but I'm sure it's better that way. Tell me if you find anything about Grant; send me a letter if you have to, but I really hope you're not gone that long. But I have to go now, so I love you."

Joey hung the phone up gently and gazed sadly at the wall, his eyebrows etched in a worried frown. He hoped his mother would be all right while he was gone and didn't act in haste until he came back. He had never seen her this upset, so he wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Joseph made the bed and cleaned up the bathroom. Unlike most boys his age, he had a pet peeve against things being a mess. Maybe he was one of the reasons that Addie kept her apartment so clean. He left the room and locked the door behind him, then jogged down the stairs to the first floor, figuring he could use the exercise instead of taking the elevator. He slowed himself to a walk and stopped at the front desk, out of breath. The receptionist was a man this time, and he said, "Yes?"

Joseph scanned the desk with his eyes and saw a pencil and a small pad of paper. He pointed at it questioningly, and the man nodded once. Joey picked it up and wrote down the name of Grant's college with a question mark, then laid the paper down. The man seemed a little confused at first, but then seemed to know what the boy wanted. He gave detailed directions and watched as the blond kid left the building by himself.

Joseph considered taking another taxi to the college, but felt more like walking in the warm weather. Now that it was daytime, he could take in the sights a lot better, and he had a better direction of where he was going. He luckily remembered the directions to the college he had been given, and he had to keep looking at street signs to figure out where he was. The traffic was very thick in this country, or perhaps it was just this state, or even just this part of town. He waited to cross a busy street, but by the way it was looking he would be here all day. He turned around and cut through a few alleys, but quickly realized his mistake when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

He whirled around and saw a dark-skinned man with an evil grin on his face. Joseph tried to pull away, but the man's other hand shot out and grabbed Joey's arm. Joseph wasn't sure what this guy wanted, but he didn't plan on sticking around and finding out. He kicked the man in the shin savagely, and that bought him enough time to pull away. He was fixing to make a run for it, but the man was quick to recover from the kick and grabbed Joseph's around the back of the neck. Joey turned around, his eyes glowing black and green, and possessed the man's body just long enough to pass through him and come out the other side. The man was stunned for only a second, and he whirled around with his hand extended, knocking Joseph to the ground, but suddenly his whole body glowed black with white outlines and he was invisibly thrown into a nearby wall.

Joseph turned around to see what was happening, and a red haired girl literally flew around the corner of a building and shot green glowing beams from her eyes, which hit the man in the stomach and drove him across the pavement. A black haired boy seemed to appear out of nowhere and grabbed the man by the lapels, pulling him close to his face, then slamming him into another wall, and the man ran as soon as he was able to stand.

There were suddenly five of them now. A boy with pointy ears and green skin came over and took Joseph's hand, pulling him to his feet. "Hey dude, are you okay?"

Joseph brushed himself off and nodded. He found it no surprise that these kids had superpowers, and in fact, he had been expecting to see them. He smiled, prepared to use the name he had given himself, now glad that he had.

"Are you Jericho?" the black haired boy said. Joseph nodded. "We're the Teen Titans. And we've kinda been expecting you."


	6. Chapter 6

The sun went down that evening in a magnificent display of orange and red light, reflecting off the thin clouds in the sky and the ocean below, turning them both a shade of light pink.

Jericho (it would be hard getting used to that name) sat on the semi-circle leather couch in the ten story Titans Tower and watched the sunset through the huge window in front of him. The teenage team of superheroes he had met a little while ago had taken him back to their home and had even let him bring his guitar and suitcase from the hotel. He still wasn't sure what all of this was about, but he had discovered that the team's spiky black haired leader, Robin, could speak sign language, so he was expecting at least some of this to be explained to him.

Robin sat down on the couch and handed him a steaming cup of coffee, which Jericho thought was a little much for the warm weather, but accepted it with a nod of thanks to be polite. He took a slow drink, then sat the mug on a small coffee table beside him and turned to Robin.

_"How did you know who I was?"_ He signed slowly to make sure the other boy was following what he was saying. He obviously was.

"Well, I've heard about you before. People with superpowers aren't usually hidden for long." Robin's uniform of tight green pants and red shirt, black and yellow cape, steel-toed boots, and black mask with a white center that covered both eyes completely sort of reminded Jericho of the colors in a traffic light, but for some reason it didn't look half bad on Robin. "And as for me saying earlier that we've been expecting you, we haven't really. I just thought you might show up one of these days. So, why _are_ you here?"

Jericho was not one to lie, so he decided to just to tell the truth. Or at least most of it. _"I'm here sort of on business for my mother. She couldn't really come, so she just had me do some things for her here."_

"Business, huh?" Robin said. "Sounds interesting."

Jericho nodded as the skinny red headed girl with green eyes and orange-ish skin flew into the room, stopping and hovering before the couch with her hands clasped in a friendly way before her. He had been told the alien girl's name was Starfire. Her uniform was entirely purple, except for the silver armor on her arms, and she wore a belly shirt, mini skirt, and thigh high boots. "Hello, friends. Robin, shall I make some Tamaranean glorg for our new guest?" She closed her eyes as her eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead, a large grin spreading across her face.

"Um, Star, I don't think... maybe just another cup of coffee?" Robin said, his worried expression looking as if he was speaking up to save Jericho's very life.

"Yes, I shall go and get more of the coffee!" Starfire exclaimed, grabbing the cup that was nearly full and flying out of the room.

Robin let out a quick sigh of relief. "Starfire's a great girl, but try to avoid eating her cooking as much as possible," he said with a small smile.

Jericho smiled back and shrugged. He hadn't eaten anything all day and was quite hungry, but decided that it would be better to take Robin's word for it. His hunger only got worse when the huge African-American teen, Cyborg, whose body was almost entirely made of silver and blue metal, walked into the living room holding a huge tray covered in various meats. "This is meat heaven," he said, gnawing on a slice of steak.

"Dude," the green skinned boy with pointy ears and wearing a purple and black bodysuit, Beast Boy, said annoyedly. "That's so not right. How many times have I told you, I've _been_ most of those animals you're eating!"

Jericho cocked his head and glanced at Robin questioningly, who laughed. "Beast Boy's a shape shifter. He can turn into any animal he wants at will."

_"Cool!"_ Jericho signed excitedly. _"Robin, you don't have any powers, do you?"_

"Just brain power," he replied cockily, crossing his arms.

Starfire walked back into the room, carefully carrying a fresh cup of coffee. "I have brought the coffee. Here you are, Jericho. I have made it myself." She handed it to him, and he signed to her. "I am sorry, but I do not understand the language of the hands."

"He said thank you," Robin said.

"Then I welcome you!" Starfire exclaimed to Jericho. She made a move to hug him, then remembered the hot cup of coffee and stopped. Jericho was surprised. She wanted to hug him! He put the mug down and opened his arms to her in a friendly way. She flew forward and grabbed him in a crushing hug, briefly cutting off his air supply. When she finished, Jericho panted slightly and signed, _"Strong girl."_ Robin laughed.

Jericho looked around the room, slightly puzzled. He was sure there had been one more Titan, a dark and drawn into herself girl who he thought was named Raven. He finally spotted her on the floor in a dimly lit corner, her knees pulled to her chest and her face hidden behind a book. She was different, but nice to look at; not out-and-out beautiful like Starfire, but pretty in her own mysterious way. She wore a long blue cloak that touched that floor over a black leotard, and she had purple-ish hair and silver skin. And she had nice legs, but that was beside the point. Jericho got up from the couch and walked over to her.

She only acknowledged him with a slight glance over the top of her book as he sat down beside her. He hoped he wasn't invading her space, but he found her interesting and couldn't resist talking to her. He pointed to himself and signed his name. "Raven," she said dully, then looked expressionlessly back to her book.

What to say now? She seemed so hard to talk to, but then again there seemed to be a side to her that was almost sweet. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to, though if she did she sure wasn't acting like it.

_"So you like to read?"_ Jericho signed with interest. Raven merely nodded, turning a page in her book. Maybe she really did want to be left alone. He wasn't sure, but he could find out. _"Where do you come from?"_

She finally took her book away from her face, staring at him with dark blue eyes. "It's a long story."

Jericho nodded. So she didn't want to talk about it. Well, that was okay with him. There were a lot of things he didn't want to talk about either. He didn't really know what to say now, so he decided to be blunt. _"You have pretty eyes."_

She actually seemed surprised by that, and her expression even changed a little, but she recovered quickly. "Uh, thanks." She looked over his thin frame from his knee-high boot to his blond sideburns, as if she was really taking him in for the first time. And she probably was.

"Jericho," Robin said from behind, and Jericho turned to look at him. "I know you've been staying at a hotel for the past few nights or so, but for however long it takes you to finish up what you've got to do here, we wanted to know if you'd stay here at the tower until you go back home."

"Yes," Starfire said from the couch. "It would be glorious for you to stay with us!"

"I can't understand you," Beast Boy said, "but it'd be nice to have you with us, I guess. I can kick your butt at every video game imaginable, so it's all good."

"Ditto," Cyborg said, taking a break from eating long enough to speak one word, then continued savagely.

Jericho felt a little shy at everyone's eagerness for him to stay, but it probably wouldn't hurt anything. These other kids seemed nice enough. He suddenly wasn't sure how trustworthy they were, but he foolish for thinking it. They were the good guys, right? So he might as well stay.

_"All right, I'll stay," _he said, smiling shyly.

"Glorious!" Starfire said again, and hovered in flight above the couch, clapping her hands together once.

Cyborg put down his tray of food. "I'll get you a room fixed up, if you want."

_"That'd be great."_

**-T-**

That night after a hot shower, Jericho put his guitar, suitcase, and backpack in the room he had been assigned to and walked through the dark tower in search of someone to talk with briefly. He felt that he needed to be brushed up on the rules of this place, if there were any, to make sure he didn't do anything wrong or offensive. He didn't want these people mad at him already.

He was about to pass the open door of the training room when he heard low voices from inside. He stopped before walking in to make sure he wasn't interrupting a private conversation.

Cyborg's voice. "I think he'd make a good a team member."

Robin. "Don't forget what happened the last time we jumped into something like this. We don't know much about him; actually, we don't know _anything_ about him."

Beast Boy. "I've heard he's got real cool powers."

Robin again. "He does. He can possess people through eye contact. But what if he turns out to be an enemy? That could be real disadvantage for us."

Starfire. "I do not believe he is dangerous. He seems like a nice boy."

"A lot of people seem nice, Starfire," Raven said flatly. You can't trust people just by what they seem like."

"We'll be careful and keep our heads up," Robin said. "But let's not act like we're cautious of anything like this."

Jericho knocked on the wall as if he had just walked up, and Robin called for him to come in. Jericho walked in smiling. _"I've had a long day, I think I'm going to bed."_

"All right, man," Cyborg said.

"I wish you the good night," Starfire said cheerfully.

Jericho waved at them and left the room. He had been told to help himself to anything he wanted, so he went into the kitchen for a glass of water. Something on the window TV caught his eye, and he turned to look. The Jump City news was talking about a recent bomb attack on a college. His heart skipped a beat as he grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. The longer he watched, the more clear it became that this was Grant's college itself, and strangely it had been the only one attacked. Jericho sucked in a breath and held it as the news reporter explained that had been many injuries and even a few deaths. When they flashed footage of what the building looked like after the bombing, Jericho fought back a silent sob. It was levelled clear down to the pavement, and nothing but charred remains.

So had his father told the truth about Grant's death? Jericho was too shocked to really think. What exact day had this bombing happened? Was it before or after Slade told the news about Grant? Jericho refused to cry, especially right now. It was still not clear if his brother had died in this bombing, or if he had even been there when it happened. And who did it, and why? He decided not to tell Adeline until he was absolutely sure what was going on. He dreaded telling her anyway.

A loud alarm and flashing red lights shook him back into reality, and the Titans burst into the room, Robin leading the way. He shut off the TV and quickly pulled up the computer screen, focusing on a blinking red dot on the blue city map.

"Titans, we've got trouble," he said. "Jericho, you can come with us. It's him."

_"Who?" _Jericho signed.

Robin looked up from the keyboard. "It's Slade."


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far on the story, I really appreciate that. I'm updating so soon because I want to get one more chapter in before spring break, so here we go.

**-T- **

Jericho blinked hard and took a small step backward on the thin red carpet. Had he just heard correctly? It probably was true, but it surprised him in the way that made him just freeze in silence. He heard Robin talking faintly in the background, and he had to strain through his shock to understand what he was saying.

"We've been after Slade for a long time." The Titans' leader slammed a fist into his open palm. "Hopefully we can finally take care of him."

"Yeah, that'd be the day," Cyborg said. "We've never beaten him before."

"But we must try," said Starfire, a look of determination in her green eyes. "Someone will defeat him once and for all."

"Starfire's right," Robin said. "Titans, go!"

Jericho wanted to ask exactly how long they had been after Slade, but they were all running out the door, and suddenly he thought that if Slade had been a villain to the Titans for that long, it was better not to mention that their arch enemy was his father. If they asked, he would tell them, but that was unlikely so he decided that it was best to just keep it a secret for now.

He realized that he was standing in the quiet living room in front of the door alone, and now he was unsure of what to do next. Barging out there with the rest of those superheroes to go battle with his father was to Jericho like walking in on his own funeral. Raven suddenly materialized through the door and looked at him uncertainly.

"Uh, are you going to come with us or just stand here?" she said, pulling the hood of her blue cloak over her head, the shadows now hiding all of her face except for her mouth.

Embarrassed at the delay he had caused, he flushed slightly and nodded. And he just hoped that he came back to this tower in one piece.

**-T-**

Robin kicked down the metal door of the abandoned warehouse and waited for the thick dust to clear. The Titans were poised in offensive mode, Starfire's green starbolts charged on her hands, Cyborg's sonic cannon in his mechanical arm aimed through the door, Raven ready to hit anything that moved with her telekinesis, Beast Boy prepared to shape shift, and Robin holding a retractable bo staff in his fingers.

"Get ready," the latter said, twirling the staff a few times and moving forward into the dark building. Jericho swallowed hard. There was never any getting ready for this.

The Titans moved inside at a quick pace. Jericho was on edge, but he didn't let it show on his face, not wanting the others to think he had any relation to Slade, or that he was afraid to fight. So he hid his uneasiness behind a no-nonsense expression to show that he was all business; at least that part was true. He was more nervous than he had ever been, but deep down ready to take on his own father.

Robin made a motion with his hand for silence, and everyone froze. Jericho squinted in the dark and took in the surroundings of the warehouse around him. So this was what his father had been doing when he had said he was "away on business", hassling teenage superheroes? Addie would have shot out his other eye if she would have known. This was crazy.

Robin pointed to the left, and they all moved silently down a dark hallway that opened up into a large room, which was lit by only one lightbulb in the ceiling and showed book cases sitting parallel to each other in a row, as a library would look. A terribly familiar deep voice echoed through the room, sending a chill through Jericho.

"I was wondering when you would decide to show up." Slade stepped slightly into the light, standing straight and rigid with his hands clasped behind his back. He was clad in silver and black armor and he wore a metal black and orange mask that hid his entire face, except his one eye. "You don't usually have a delay before you can come and meet me." His gaze swept across the Titans, then landed on Jericho and bore deep into him. They stood staring at each other briefly before Robin let out a yell and threw a few explosive discs in Slade's direction, who dodged without effort. Starfire flew forward, her eyes glowing green, and threw starbolts like mad. They landed dangerously all around Slade, but every one of them missed the target. Cyborg blasted off a shot of his sonic cannon, but Slade side-flipped out of the way and landed hard beside Beast Boy, who tried quickly to shape shift, but was grabbed and hurled across the room. Raven moved a chunk of rock out of the wall with her mind powers and threw it at Slade, but he came forward and punched it to pieces when it got close.

"Have you gotten weak since the last time we talked?" Slade calmly teased. "Or am I just undefeated, Titans?"

"We're gonna take you down!" Robin yelled savagely.

Slade laughed slightly. "Robin, I'm sure you would only like to try."

Both yelling, they ran forward and met head-on, throwing and blocking punches and kicks like crazy until Robin whipped out his bo staff again and whacked Slade hard enough to break bones, but the man just got back up after he was down briefly. Robin came in with a few more swings that only hit air until Slade reached out and grabbed the staff in one hand. His eye narrowed as Robin's grew wider, and hurled the masked teen into a nearby wall while never letting go of pole, then pulled it out of Robin's hands and threw it backward.

Jericho had seen enough. He knew how well his father could fight; he had seen it all of his life, had it taught to him and saw it taught to Grant for years. Slade was already whipping these other kids and they had barely begun to fight. Jericho made his first move and caught Robin's bo staff before it could hit the ground, gave it a twirl to get the feel of it in his hands, and rushed forward in a mid-air somersault that gave him enough momentum to slam the staff across the back of Slade's shoulders and send him skidding across the floor in surprise.

Robin stood up from the floor and was surprised at how well Jericho handled the bo staff- he was almost as good as himself, and that was saying a lot, especially for a boy Jericho's size. But Robin saw a boiling rage in the boy's green eyes that clearly showed he had had past experiences with Slade, and there was something that had driven him to the end of his rope, and this was probably his revenge and what motivated him for it.

Little did Robin know, this motivation was Grant. Jericho still couldn't say for sure if his brother was alive or not, but Slade had said that he wasn't, and if that was true, Jericho blamed his father for Grant's death. He was still angry about the lies his father had told, and the way he had deceived Addie in the past. So it looked like here was the best place to take out all the anger and show what he really thought of his father.

Slade blocked Jericho's savage blow for a few minutes, but suddenly whipped out a fist and slammed it square into his son's jaw, who dropped the bo staff and slid across the hard floor. Jericho felt the pain of the blow clear up to his hair, and he struggled to get up. And he had thought Jared's punches hurt!

Slade walked towards Jericho with a look that showed he was going to end the fight now, but he suddenly froze and turned black from the chest down, and was thrown hard into a wall by Raven's powers. She landed on the ground and helped Jericho to his feet, looking at him almost sympathetically. And that was probably very rare, for her.

Slade seemed to be up as soon as he was down, and, ignoring the starbots that rained down around him, had grabbed Raven's arm and thrown her across the room almost before anyone could blink. Jericho stared briefly up at his father's face, and noticed that the man was reluctant to look him in the eye. He knew what his son could do and obviously was not in the mood to be possessed. And what made the situation the worst was that as he looked down at his son, there was no mercy in his eyes.

The next punch Jericho received sent him clear through the cement wall and onto the deserted street outside. After a few seconds of catching his breath, the pain of breaking through the wall suddenly hit him in a hard wave, to where he would cry out if he could. He sucked in a few more breaths and heard the battle raging on inside, and by the way things were looking there wasn't going to be much left of the warehouse when it was over. He could see blue light from Cyborg's sonic cannon dancing on the wall, and a few starbolts flew by the hole, and then Starfire screeched inside. There was a growl from Beast Boy followed by a loud thud, and the sound of Robin's battle cries showed that he was in the heat of the battle.

Jericho pushed himself up onto his eblows, still panting, but he froze when he saw the outline of a masked girl standing in front of him. It looked like she was wearing a tight black bodysuit, but since the moon was behind her he couldn't really tell. She was still for a moment, then abruptly reached down and grabbed Jericho by the shirt with one hand and smashed him hard, face-first into the wall before he could even do anything about it. He felt the blood in his mouth as he hit the ground again, then quickly moved out of the way as the girl threw a hard punch at him that missed and put a hole in the pavement.

Jericho was now in a position to where the light was hitting the girl. Every bit of her was covered except for her mouth and chin, though the bodysuit she wore was tight enough to see every outline and curve of her body. He shoved himself up and practically had to dance to avoid a sweeping kick, then literally bent over backwards to dodge a massive punch that stuck the girl's fist into the wall. She was nearly straddling him at this point, and he made contact with her eyes as his started to glow. She realized what was happening too late, and as she took a step back he went into her and possessed her body.

Something was weird about the feel of the mind connection- it felt to Jericho almost like he couldn't hold his focus. But he could see her thoughts and read her mind briefly, and he got a glimpse of Slade, Addie, himself, and then Grant's college. She was Rose; no surprise there. He struggled hard to keep control of her, but there was something in her mind that was like a negative energy to his powers, and he was suddenly forced out of her body and hard down to the ground.

In control of her own self now, she held her face for a second, then pulled out something from her belt and held it over her head briefly. Jericho wanted to plead with her, to tell her to stop, but there was no time to sign those things to her. And even if there was, she more than likely wouldn't listen. She had been crazy from the first day he had met her, and what was even worse was that she seemed completely loyal to her father, and that meant she would do anything to please him.

In the split second that he had to think, Jericho suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation. What if he wasn't the one to go back home to tell Addie about Grant? And what if she merely got a letter that informed her she had lost both sons? He wasn't sure if Slade wanted him dead, but neither him or Rose seemed to be showing much mercy. Family ties obviously didn't matter in the world of crime. It only made it worse.

Jericho looked quickly at Rose's hand as it dawned on him that his sister was holding an explosive disc. She was in the position to throw it right at him, and he tried to move, but she was so fast it was impossible to dodge it. Just as she was about to let go, he figured that his last thought was going to be wishing he had never come on this trip, and then the disc flew as she backflipped into the shadows.

At such a close range, there was no possible way she could have missed. Yet as Jericho ducked down, the bomb hit the building behind him, and there was a massive explosion that knocked him to the ground and sent him sliding spread-eagle across the street as he covered his head. Debris, shrapnel, and ashes rained down from the building, which was mostly was just the interior structure now. He shielded his face until everything was still, except for the licking flames behind him, then moved his arms and saw that the Titans had emerged from the building and were standing beside him.

Robin put out a hand and helped Jericho up. "You okay?"

He nodded, leaving out the fact that his back felt like it had been snapped. _"Where's Slade?"_

"Gone."

_"And the girl?"_ He wasn't just going to out-and-out say she was his half sister. It was better to just not let on for now.

"What girl? There was no girl."

"Our friend would not lie," Starfire said. "Would you, Jericho?"

_"Of course not. There was a girl here, and she tried to off me with that bomb."_

"We'll find them," Robin said flatly. "But right now you don't look so good. We need to get back to the tower."

Jericho didn't object.

**-T-**

"You could not even do it," Slade said in the shadows of an underground lair. "I give you one small task, and you can't even take out the half brother you don't even know."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Rose replied. "I'll do it next time. I won't let you down again."

"What makes you think there's going to be a next time, Ravager?"

Rose looked down at the dark floor. "Just give me one more chance."

"You failed. I was looking for a partner, an apprentice, and you failed. You are nothing like me."

Rose's eyes snapped up to Slade's masked face. "Yes I am." She slowly pulled out a dagger from her belt. "I'm just like you. Just like you."


	8. Chapter 8

Jericho sat alone on the darkening rooftop of the tower, staring absentmindedly at the sunset before him, his wavy hair blowing in the light breeze. He pulled up his sleeve and glanced down at his right arm, discovering that he was more cut and bruised than he had thought he was. Being punched through a brick wall was obviously more serious than it had felt like, for when it was happening the pain had been numbed with the adrenaline of the fight. It had done more damage to his body that it felt like.

"Hi," a dull female voice said suddenly. Jericho looked over his shoulder and saw Raven standing on the roof behind him, her face hidden by her hood and her cape blowing loosely on her shoulders. Surprised that she talked to him first, he stared at her for a moment, then smiled and waved. She walked towards him a few steps, then stopped. "I didn't know you were out here. I don't want to bother you."

_"No, I'd love to have some company,"_ he signed quickly. _"I was more invading your space than anything." _He patted the roof beside him encouragingly, and was surprised when Raven came over and sat down.

"I usually come out here to get away from the noise," she said expressionlessly. "Beast Boy's enough to get on anyone's nerves."

Jericho laughed silently. _"I'm not really used to a lot of noise either."_

"I'm used to it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," she replied.

_"That's true,"_ he signed. _"I haven't been able to make a sound for years."_

Raven turned her head away from him. "I'm sorry, I know that must be hard."

Jericho looked at her, startled. He hadn't been wanting or expecting sympathy, he had just been pointing out a fact. Raven didn't seem to be the type to apologize often, especially over something that wasn't her fault. _"No, no, I'm okay with it. Some things are just meant to happen that way."_

"I guess a lot of things are. No matter how much you try to stop it, some things are bound to happen anyway. I've had some personal experiences with that."

Back in Tibet, Jericho had heard a lot about the Titans, like everyone else around the world, even about their personalities. According to what he had heard, Raven was the quiet, irritable one and the most difficult to talk to. Well, obviously not in real life. She didn't seem to be having any problem talking to him.

_"So, where do you come from?"_ Jericho asked. He hoped it wasn't too personal of a question, and when she hesitated, he touched her arm. _"I'm sorry. It's really not my business."_

"Don't worry about it. I come from another dimension, Azarath. It was a peaceful place until, well..."

_"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." _Of course she already knew that. But it just seemed better to point it out.

"Let's just say I have some family problems."

Well, he could relate to that. _"I know what you mean. Anyway, how old are you?"_

She didn't answer, and he blushed, feeling stupid. How uncomfortable was he making this girl? She had been nice enough to come and talk to him, and all he was doing was peppering her with annoying questions. He would feel weird to apologize again, so he just signed the next thing he thought of. _"Well, I'm fifteen, just so you know. So, how long have you been with the Titans?"_

"About as long as everyone else, I guess."

Jericho blushed again. _"You can ask me a stupid question, just to make up for all the ones I asked you."_

"We don't know that much about each other, and I guess there's no better way to find out than to ask questions," she replied. Jericho was about to answer her, but the jewel on the front of her cape started blinking and her communicator beeped. "Looks like trouble," she said dully, and teleported through the roof without another word.

**-T-**

The Titans arrived on the scene of a deserted alley where the call for help had been placed, but there didn't seem to be anything going on at the moment.

"Dude," Beast Boy said irritably, "is this a trick or something? There's nobody here!"

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed. "I could be back in the gym instead of wasting my time doing nothing."

"There _is_ somebody here," Raven said. "I can feel it."

Even in the short time that he had been with the Titans, Jericho had learned to trust Raven's senses. She usually knew what she was talking about, especially when it came to danger.

"Raven's probably right," Robin said, pulling out his bo staff. "We weren't called out here for nothing, so let's just-"

His last words were interrupted by an alley wall being shamshed to pieces, and a huge humanoid villain made of pure rock gray rock stood growling in front of them.

"Cinderblock," Cyborg said, his hand disappearing to reveal his sonic cannon. They were about to commence battle, but an oozing purple-ish creature slithered into view almost like water, then took the form of a large, human-like, top-heavy man made out of clay. "_And_ Plasmus?" Cyborg exclaimed.

"How unusual," Raven said sarcastically. "Let's just get this over with." Her hands glowed black as she motioned to a chunk of smashed wall, then threw it in Plasmus's direction once she gained control of it. The clay man was struck hard in the chest, but the rock just stuck to him and stayed in place. The creature roared, and the rock was thrown from his body with his clay-like form, but Raven threw up a shield and blocked.

Starfire flew forward and charged up a starbolt on each hand, her eyes glowing. She put her fists together, creating one large starbolt, aimed her weapon, and let it fly. It blew through Plasmus's head like he wasn't even there, and he stood there headless for a moment before sucking in a breath and creating a new head. Jericho found it strange that no one saw this as surprising.

Cinderblock charged at them from behind, his heavy footsteps rocking the ground and shaking the buildings around them. Robin was the only one to turn around fast enough to defend them, and he threw a few flash bombs that exploded on Cinderblock's face, causing him to stop blindly and roar in frustration. Cyborg shot the rock man square in the face with a blue blast from his sonic cannon, and as he was falling backwards Beast Boy shape-shifted into a gorilla and smashed him in the back, sending him falling forward onto his overly-large chest.

Robin, Starfire, and Raven seemed to be taking care of Plasmus as Jericho merely stood there. He wanted to help the team, but he also didn't want to butt in when they were taking care of it themselves. A second later, Robin and Starfire were suddenly covered in purple-ish goo and flying by him, and they both hit a nearby wall hard. Raven levitated over and blasted a wave of power at Plasmus that drove him back against a building. Jericho turned to see what was happening in the fight with Cinderblock, but Beast Boy came flying through the air and hit him hard, sending both of them sprawling to the pavement. Jericho struggled to get up as he heard a crash and Robin yell out in pain. A few yards away, Cyborg grabbed Cinderblock by the arm and swung him violently, letting go of the mass of rock at the last minute and sending him flying through a large window of a building. Jericho quickly performed a backwards handspring to escape accidental friendly-fire from Starfire, who was throwing starbolts like mad.

"Watch it, Star!" Beast Boy yelled in Jericho's defense. Starfire turned to apologize, but was hit by an extended arm of Plasmus's and went sliding across the ground, moaning all the way down. Beast Boy was grabbed in Cinderblock's crushing arms, and Robin seemed to come from nowhere to save his green friend from the deadly grasp, jumping down with his bo staff extended, but he was knocked from the sky by Plasmus, who seemed to laugh as Robin took the fall hard to his shoulder.

Jericho glanced above his head and saw the small balcony of a fire escape in perfect jumping reach, and after making sure he wasn't in immediate danger and had room to move, jumped up and latched onto a metal bar with both hands and swung up gymnastics-style, landing just right on the steps above him. The move alone was enough to catch Plasmus's attention, which was just Jericho's plan. The blond boy jumped off the platform directly towards Plasmus's face, but on the way down he stared into the clay man's white eyes as his own glowed black and green, and as he made contact his jump took him right down into Plasmus's body.

"Good idea, Jericho!" Robin yelled, pushing himself up from the pavement. "Go for Cinderblock!"

Jericho took control of Plasmus's body and turned to face Cinderblock, who seemed oblivious to the fact that his teammate had been possessed by the enemy. Jericho lifted Plasmus's heavy arm and extened it quickly, smashing it into Cinderblock and driving him a few feet into the pavement. Starfire and Beast Boy cheered Jericho on in the background as the fight between teammates ensued. Cinderblock stood up in confusion, obviously reluctant to attack who he thought was Plasmus, until Jericho attacked him again, this time sending him straight through a building and out the other side.

"Don't let up on him, man," Cyborg encouraged.

Jericho nodded once and stretched Plasmus's body around the corner of the building, coming down on Cinderblock again, who finally decided that it was best to fight back. Their fists met hard, but Jericho let Plasmus delapidate slightly, causing Cinderblock's huge fist to be stuck in the other's arm. Jericho clenched Plasmus's fist and planted it with all his strength into his opponent's face, causing him to scale three buildings and splash hard into the ocean. After waiting a few minutes for Cinderblock to come back, and when he didn't, Jericho exited Plasmus and landed lightly on the pavement as the blob behind him melted down and an unconscious man lay breathing heavily amidst the clay.

The rest of the Titans came around the side of the building to meet Jericho, and Starfire clapped her hands once. "Glorious! You whooped the butt!"

"Yeah, good job," Cyborg said, punching Jericho's fist.

"Couldn't have done it better myself," Raven said, taking off her hood, revealing her short violet hair and dark blue eyes.

Jericho smiled at the praise he was receiving and shrugged slightly. _"I just thought you guys could use some help."_

"You've got cool powers," Robin said, "but... nevermind. Let's get back to the tower."

_"Go ahead," _Jericho signed. _"I'll catch up in a minute."_ Robin shrugged and the Titans headed down the road, Raven seeming to be the only one reluctant to leave Jericho behind. He waved at her encouragingly, and she waved back, then levitated into the air alongside Starfire.

Jericho walked to the edge of the ocean where he had heard Cinderblock come crashing down and knelt beside the water, but there was no sign of the chunk of rock anywhere. Was it possible for a being like Cinderblock to drown? Probably not, but you could never be sure. Jericho wanted to fight against crime and evil and everything, but drowning someone was not really on his list of a victory move.

"Looking for something, Jericho?" an eerily familiar teased. Jericho stiffened and stood up, then turned slowly to face his father directly. Slade was standing in the shadows, his hands clasped behind his back. "Don't worry, your friends aren't around anymore to hear us." He walked out of the shadows and Jericho took a wary step backwards. "To make a long story short... I wasn't finished with you the other night. We have a little catching up to do. So... let's talk."


	9. Chapter 9

**Man, it's taken me forever to get this chapter up, since I've been kinda grounded, but _finally_ here it is.**

**-T-**

Jericho took an uneasy step backwards as he stared up at the masked face of his father before him. The cool breeze swept through the boy's wavy blond hair and rolled in thin clouds over the full moon above them, softening the reflection on the ocean water and dimming the shine on their surroundings.

"Jericho," Slade said calmly, the name he had never had to call his son before rolling off his tongue without effort, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I see you've already made a few friends while you've been here." He scoffed slightly. "That's a first, isn't it? You've never seemed to make friends that easily before."

He knew he was expected to answer, but Jericho had a strong feeling that is was best not to say anything for now. He backed up slowly as Slade came forward, and heard the slight splash of water as he took a step back into the shallow part of the ocean behind him. He glanced back quickly, then focused his eyes on the man in front of him again. He wasn't sure what Slade had in mind to do, but he wondered how a father, in fact, _his_ father, could do something like this to their own son. Jericho had always thought of Slade as a loving and caring man who would go to extremes to protect the people he loved, but now he wondered if his father loved at all. Look at the things that had been revealed just with the moving in of Rose; Slade was everything he had seemed he wasn't. And what about the reports of Grant's death? Was his father responsible for that too? Jericho wanted to ask, but he was uneasy and it felt impossible to raise his hands and sign his question, so being trapped between the cold water and his menacing father, he froze.

"Do you really think the Titans are going to befriend you for long?" Slade continued, his hands clasped behind his back. "As soon as they find out who you are and where you come from, you'll be their enemy before you've even figured out what's going on. You need to learn not to trust people so easily, Jericho."

Jericho tried to force himself to use his hands and ask his questions, but it felt like he had lost all physical control of his body and that it had a mind of its own. So this was probably similar to what it felt like when he possessed someone else; only right now his body was being controlled out of fear. He had never been afraid of his father before, but that had all changed after their first battle a little while ago. There was no predicting what the man would man do now.

Slade's voice randomly changed its tone and hit a careless-sounding note. "I was going to tell you about Rose before, but I thought it would be better if you two just met in person." He suddenly reached out a hand and lifted Jericho's chin, who was too scared to even flinch. Slade's voice changed back to its dull and taunting monotone, and he spoke as if telling a bedtime story. "You don't have to worry about me, Jericho. I'm your _father_." A quick but expected punch caught the boy in the jaw and drove him backwards, slamming him out to the surface of the water but quickly submerging him as he nearly drowned trying to catch his breath from the blow he had just taken. Being punched by a person your own age and size was bad enough, but by a grown man who was very experienced in violence- well, that was different. It felt to Jericho like his entire body had been bruised by own hit. He groggily got his bearings and surfaced, gasping for air.

"You're going to have trouble in the real world if you can't even take one hit," Slade teased evilly. "I told myself a long time ago that I'd make a man out of you, now get up and fight me like one, Jericho."

Why didn't Slade get it? Jericho didn't want to fight, especially not with his own father. He breathed shallowly and moved his hands slightly to keep his head above the water. He'd swim to the other side of the shore before he got out and fought Slade. He squinted and glanced around at his surroundings, scanning the buildings and the streets for any sign of the Titans, but they were nowhere to be seen. Wasn't it always like that? Just when you needed help.

Slade walked towards Jericho again, ignoring the water as if it wasn't even there, his hands still clasped behind his back. Jericho looked around frantically for any escape route, but before he could move Slade grabbed him by the arm with one hand and by the hair with other, then lifted him out of the water without effort and tossed him up onto the dry rocks beside them. "You have a lot to learn, Jericho. Even the Titans will put up a fight against me, but you won't even try." He walked past his son and stood up on the shore.

Jericho tried to catch his breath again as he sat up. He glared at Slade and finally managed to sign, _"I don't want to fight you."_

"Is that so? Things don't always go the way you want them to."

_"What makes you hate me so much? And Grant? What did you do to him?" _Jericho narrowed his green eyes and managed to stand. _"I don't hold against you what happened a few years ago, but what you're doing now is deliberate. Why didn't you just tell us in the first place that you were a mercenary or whatever you are?"_

"You can probably tell that I didn't come here to talk," Slade said. He glanced over his shoulder and said, "Ravager."

The masked and armored form of Rose jumped down from the top of a building and landed lightly beside Slade. She held two discs between her fingers and stared challengingly down at her half brother. Jericho met her gaze and was surprised to see that she her mask was very similar to Slade's (except that it showed her mouth), even right down to merely one eye hole. He wondered what was up with that, but with a nod from Slade, she was on him and kicking him in the stomach before he even knew what was going on.

Jericho had been knocked around quite a bit by his sister and his father before he could gain his balance and have a chance to attempt to block, but with both of them on him, it was nearly impossible. At a point where Slade was coming at him at his right, and Ravager in front of him, Jericho's eyes started glowing and he threw his gaze at Ravager, who didn't even break stride as he possessed her only briefly enough to pass through her body and out to the other side to avoid the oncoming blow from Slade. His two attackers nearly crashed into each other, but turned the stumble into a move where Ravager kicked off Slade's open hands and came whirling back on Jericho, who had barely had time to escape three steps, no less get out of range. She tackled him to the pavement and wrestled only briefly as she yanked his arms behind his back and drove her armored knee between his shoulder blades. He would have cried out if he could.

"That's my girl," Slade said from behind them, laughing almost silently. For some reason those three small words of praise cut Jericho to the heart; if he would have been anyone else, it would have been jealousy, but he wasn't that kind of person. It only seemed to hurt his feelings, and he stopped trying to wrestle Ravager off his back and gave up the fight.

"I've got him," Ravager said, dragging his soaking form to his feet.

"Good," Slade said slowly. "Bring him to me."

Ravager roughly grabbed Jericho's arms, who didn't even bother to resist, and shoved him in Slade's direction. Jericho wasn't sure what was in store for him next, but it didn't look like it was going to be pretty, whatever it was.

_SLAM! _Ravager was suddenly thrown violently into the nearest wall, letting out a cry of pain and surprise as she went. A cloud of dest rose where she made impact, and while she was busy with that Jericho and Slade looked up to see who had attacked her, and Jericho sighed with relief when he saw Raven.

"Let him_go_," she demanded fiercely, her hand raised and glowing with her black telekinesis power, her eyes glowing pure white. The other four Titans dropped down around her with their powers charging and their weapons drawn.

"Listen to her if you know what's good for you, man," Cyborg said seriously, aiming his sonic cannon squarely at Slade's face.

"Yes, or you shall have to answer to us," Starfire said, her hands glowing green with starbolts that were ready to fly.

Slade chuckled dully. "I have answered to you before, Titans, and it hasn't done you any good. By the way, I want you to meet my new apprentice. Ravager?" He looked over his shoulder as she came forward, brushing herself off. "These are the Titans." Slade spread out a hand for mocking effect, and Ravager grinned.

"I've heard a lot about you losers," she said. "Now get out of my way!"

Robin twirled his bo staff and yelled, "Titans, go!"

The five shot forward as Slade and Ravager ran to meet them, and there was a huge clash of flying powers, punches, kicks, and weapons. Beast Boy, in tiger form, went careening across the pavement and accidentally took Cyborg down with him. Robin and Ravager were in a deep battle of bo staffs and martial arts, but both of them were so well trained that the fight seemed to be going nowhere at all. Jericho spent most of his time quickly dodging all of the flying dangers, then turned around and almost came face-first with a flying explosive disc. In the split second that he had to think, he prepared himself for the explosion, but almost faster than humanly possible Raven materialized out of the ground beneath him and threw up a shield that protected them both from the blast.

_"Thanks,"_ Jericho signed quickly, though he really felt like hugging her for what she had just done for him.

"Don't thank me yet," she replied, then grabbed his hands and levitated out of the way of Slade's oncoming fist bo staff.

_Wow, Raven's a big help to me,_ Jericho thought. _I wish I could find some way to thank her more._

"You don't have to," Raven suddenly said, looking down at him.

_She can read minds?_ Jericho exclaimed silently.

"To a point, yes," she said. "But I really think it's more important if we conentrate on the problem at hand, okay?"

She was right. She let him drop gently to the ground, and he signed, _"I want to help you guys, but nobody will stand sitll long enough for me to make eye contact."_

"We've got your back. Maybe you should just sit this one out."

Jericho shook his head. "I really-" He moved quickly as Ravager took a hard fall at his feet, moaning slightly. He glanced up in time to see Starfire throw a massive punch and plant it square in the middle of Slade's face, cracking his mask and hurdling him through the window of the building beside them. With both of their enemies down for a second or so, the Titans let their guard down briefly and rushed over to Jericho.

"Are you okay?" Robin panted, his hair shining with sweat.

Jericho nodded but touched his ribs tenderly. He wouldn't be surprised to later find out that one or two of them were broken.

"We have to keep Slade away from him," Beast Boy said. "For some reason, he's got it out for him, dude."

"I'll take him back to the tower," Raven said quickly. "The rest of you should stay here and fight this out for as long as you can." And with that, she turned into her soul self in the shape of a black raven and swept Jericho away along with her.

**-T-**

"Looks like you have a few fractured ribs, but I can heal them," Raven was saying after she and Jericho had reached the tower and she looked him over as they sat at the table. "Whoever she is, Slade's new apprentice is stronger than she looks."

Jericho cringed as Raven gently touched his side. _"So I noticed. Have you had any update with the rest of the team?"_

"I'd say they'll probably handle theirselves well," she said absentmindedly. "Now hold still." Jericho did as he was told, and Raven's hand glowed a sparkly purple this time as she touched his ribs, and the pain seemed to be immediately gone. "How does that feel?"

Jericho moved to test the pain level. _"I don't feel anything. You're pretty amazing, you know?"_

Raven smiled slightly. "I guess I have a lot of hidden talents. But anyway... how long had you been fighting Slade and that girl before we showed up again?"

Jericho got serious and frowned. _"A few minutes, but not too long I guess. I'm just glad you all got there when you did."_

"Starfire heard a lot of noise and said that we should go see if you were okay. Good thing we did."

Jericho swallowed and looked down at the floor. He tapped his fingers on the table and cleared his throat.

"What?" Raven said flatly.

_"Well,"_ he signed, _"there's... there's something important that I have to tell you."_


	10. Chapter 10

A slow rhythm of water dripping into a shallow puddle echoed throughout the abandoned sewer which had not been in use for quite a few years. A lone lantern hanging from the ceiling illuminated the surroundings, casting tall shadows and then disappearing into the thick darkness. A subway passed closely somewhere below-ground, rocking the pipe and temporarily drowning out the noise of the barely flowing water.

Beside the lantern, Ravager leaned against the slanted wall and slowly unmasked herself, tossing her long white hair over her shoulder and cringing slightly on the painful bruise at her ribs. The Titans had put up a good of enough fight, but Robin was the only one who had really gotten a solid hit on her. She smiled to herself. Not only was he cute, but he could handle himself almost as well as she could with a bo staff.

Slade stepped in from the shadows, his hands clasped behind his back and his face expressionless. Though he was wearing an iron mask, Ravager could usually tell just by his one visible eye what he was thinking or feeling. Right now he seemed to be plotting something.

"Ravager," he said. His voice, on its usual dull note, echoed down the length of the pipe and back. "I'm beginning to lose patience with the situation at hand."

Ravager glanced up at him. "Meaning what, exactly?"

Slade turned his head to look back at her. "Jericho's being evasive. He thinks he's protected with the Titans; that they're his friends."

"Well, technically, they _are_ protecting him," she replied, running a finger down the length of the bruise at her side. "What do you have in mind for him, anyway?"

Slade turned away from her again and stared into the dark shadows a few moments before answering. Then he said, "He has a tremendous gift. Only, he's using it for the Titans' side of the line. And I want him on ours. Anyone can see that he's too gentle to harness the powers he has, but I want to change that. I can make it to where he has no limits to what he can do."

"How do you plan on bringing him to fight alongside you?" Ravager said, her voice rising a little with jealousy. The truth was, she didn't want anyone else pairing up with Slade, even if it was her brother. Especially not her brother. But her father's orders must be carried out.

"How do you think, Ravager? I'm not just going to ask him."

"I should hope not, you'll never get anywhere that way. He has it in his mind that what we're doing is wrong."

"Let him think what he wants," Slade said, a hint of an evil smile in his voice. "It won't matter as long as I have him in my clutches."

"The Titans have him sheltered in their circle, so it's going to be even harder to get to him. What's your plan once we do?"

Slade put a hand to his chin. "We take him by force. Once I get a hold of him, he will have no choice but to obey my every command. When you get him in your sights again, use whatever means possible to bring him to me."

Ravager pulled her mask back on. "I understand."

"And the next time you see him," Slade said slowly, "I want you to make sure he doesn't return to the Titans again."

**-T-**

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Raven pulled her hood down from her face and looked at Jericho. "There's something you wanted to say?"

_"Well, yeah,"_ he signed in reply. _"It's kinda about what happened earlier."_

Raven stared at him silently, waiting for him to continue without prodding him. He ran a hand through his hair and seemed like he didn't know where to start. Raven raised an eyebrow to encourage him to continue, but just as he raised his hands, Cyborg and Robin walked into the room. Raven scowled, but Jericho just smiled sympathetically at the interruption.

"Jericho, we just wanted to make sure you were okay," Robin said. "I saw you take a few hard hits in the fight with Slade. Nothing feels broken or anything, does it?"

Jericho shook his head. _"I'm just a little bruised, but I'll be okay."_

Cyborg spoke up. "Man, Slade's not somebody you want to mess around with. He's bad news."

_I know, _Jericho thought, but he just smiled again and signed, "_How often do have to put up with him?"_

"Too often," Robin said, his expression hardening.

"Well, on a ligher note," Cyborg said quickly, "who wants to go out for pizza? I'm starving." He held his metal stomach to prove it.

Jericho looked at Raven to get her opinion, but when she just shrugged, he turned to Cyborg and nodded.

**-T-**

The Titans later sat at a circular table at the pizza place and argued over which toppings went where and who got what. Jericho, who was placed between Raven and Robin, smiled pleasantly as he listened to the friendly fight ensue, not being able to help feeling a little out of place with the five around him. They had probably known each other for a long time and were used to everyone else's company, but Jericho felt like the stranger of the group as he glanced at each one of his friend's faces. It wasn't like they hadn't tried to make him feel comfortable, but they seemed more like siblings than a team. They were rough with each other, especially the boys, and Jericho found himself struggling to fit in with them.

"Which of the toppings do you wish for, Jericho?" Starfire asked, looking at him with her pretty green eyes.

Jericho folded one arm over the other on the table and smiled shyly. _"I like just about anything."_

The Titans stared at him quizically, as if they weren't used to such compromise. Robin raised an eyebrow. "I guess that's not too hard to decide, then."

"Just order something, I'm withering over here!" Beast Boy said. "And just as long as it's not meat, I don't care."

Jericho cocked his head. _"Are you a vegetarian?"_

Beast Boy nodded. "Yep. I mean, if you really think about it, why would I want to eat something that I've been?"

So Cyborg was a meat-o-holic, Beast Boy didn't like meat, and Starfire preferred strange things like mustard and mint frosting as a topping. Jericho would have to keep all of this in mind.

After the order was finally placed, Starfire grinned broadly and enterlaced her fingers in front of her. "After this, I suggest we go home and watch a movie of choice. Who here agrees?"

"Sure, as long as it's sci-fi," Cyborg said, drumming his fingers on the table impatiently.

"Let's not get into this again, or we'll never pick anything," Robin said. "Let Jericho decide."

Jericho flushed slightly as everyone turned to look at him expectantly. He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. _"Whatever you guys like."_

The five were silent, then Robin said, "That's why we want you to pick something. None of us can agree on anything."

Jericho signed, _"Well-" _and then a stack of four pizzas was placed on the table and movies were long forgotten as everyone scrounged for a piece. Jericho sat back out of the way and watched while everything was beginning to be picked cleaned, but Raven managed to pull a whole box away from the chaos and slide it in front of him.

"I figured you might want some too," she said flatly.

Jericho smiled and opened the box. _"Thank you. Want to share?"_

She shrugged, and they were lucky enough to have a box to themselves while the others argued over what was left.

After everything was paid for and done, the six of them started their walk home. Jericho noticed that bystanders would ocasionally stare or point, and he figured that the Titans were more famous than he thought; of course, he had heard about them in Tibet, so it was no wonder people here in Jump City knew who they were. He felt shy at all the attention, and he hurried to catch up with Raven, who didn't seem bothered at all by civilians.

Beast Boy suddenly said that he had to go, so they stopped at a public restroom and Jericho thought about going in with Beast Boy, but the latter was in and out practically before Jericho had taken two steps into the bathroom.

"No rush, dude, we'll wait for you," Beast Boy said as he breezed past.

Jericho stopped at the sink and teased his hair with his fingers. He didn't want to let on to the others, but he wouldn't doubt it if he had a fractured rib or two. He had struggled the whole day to keep his walk under control without limping, but now he didn't know if he could take it any longer. If his mother were here, she would make him lie down and rest for about a week and fret over him until he was well. Jericho suddenly felt a little homesick. He needed to write Adeline a letter telling her that he hadn't found anything about Grant so far and that he wasn't coming home just yet.

After splashing water on his face a few times, Jericho headed to the door but stopped when he heard his friend's voices outside. He knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but he thought he had heard his name being said. And it turned out he did.

Cyborg's muffled voice said, "Well, I don't think there's anything dangerous about Jericho. He's a nice guy."

"Isn't it a little..." Robin said, but Jericho couldn't hear the rest of that sentence. Then, "I don't know how trustworthy he really is. I'm not going to treat him bad or anything, but... have to be careful."

Jericho leaned against the wall and strained to hear better, but he couldn't. He heard Raven say something inaudible, followed by Starfire, "Agreed. We should not judge him when we do not know."

"I'm not judging him, I'm just being careful," Robin repeated. "You know what happened... on our side unless he proves otherwise."

Jericho figured that this was a good time to go outside, and everyone was silent when he opened the door, but he just smiled as if he hadn't been listening to them. The group moved on again to the direction of the tower in silence, and on a deserted road, Robin suddenly stopped and held up a hand to signal for complete silence. Jericho cocked his head and listened hard, but heard nothing. Well, Robin probably had better training and better senses, so it was best to listen to him when he thought something was wrong.

Jericho was suddenly and quickly grabbed by a hand that took a fistful of the front of his shirt, and the other clasped around the gold band on his wrist. Practically before he knew what was even happening, he was thrown head-long to the ground a few yards away, painfully landing on his shoulder and sliding a couple of feet on his wounded side. He tried his best to ignore the pain and lifted his head just in time to be kicked in the face, lifting him clear off the ground and slamming him into a nearby wall as the blood nearly poured from his mouth and nose.

Starfire gasped. "Jericho!" It had all happened so fast that no one had time to react until now. They all moved into defensive mode, but were also kicked to the ground before they had a chance to attack. Robin was the first to jump up, and he was luckily fast enough to block an oncoming overhead slice from a one-sided sword with his bo staff. As the two metals ground tightly together, Robin looked up to the masked face of the girl Slade had called Ravager. Robin had never seen her before until lately, and he didn't recognize her. But he had just made the mistake of concentrating too hard on who she was, and in one slick move she kicked him in the stomach and sent him reeling.

Raven rushed over to Jericho and reached down to help him up, but quickly turned and threw up a black shield to block an oncoming barrage of throwing stars, which stuck into the transparent shield, then dropped to the ground as the shield vanished. Jericho managed to sit up and spat blood onto the pavement, looking at Raven thankfully that she had come to protect him. Most boys he had ever known would object to being protected by a girl, but not Jericho. He glanced up and saw Ravager at a full sprint in Raven's direction. He hadn't even known what had hit him until now.

Raven stood in a defensive position in front of Jericho, who was still on the ground, but Ravager was assaulted by starbolts before she even made it close enough to Raven to attack. Starfire swooped down from the sky and planted a massive punch upside Ravager's chin, sending her flipping high into the air, but the agile girl managed to land the dangerous fall on her feet in a crouch.

A few of Robin's flash bombs exploded around her, and she rushed to cover her eyes. Even Jericho was blinded by the light, and he shielded his face with an arm. After the light faded, Ravager, who was a little disoriented and quite blinded, took a shot from Cyborg's sonic cannon and was once again thrown to the ground. She sat up and rubbed her eyes as Beast Boy stood ominously over her.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded, crouched and ready to spring at any second. Ravager moaned quietly, then tilted her head up and glared up at him.

"I have my orders." She was up in a hearbeat and had kicked him back before he could even dodge.

Robin seemed to jump down from nowhere and tackled her from behind, and they landed in a struggling heap on the ground. Robin held her down briefly before the tables turned and she flipped over, driving her knee into his chest and pinning him to the pavement. She was fast enough to draw her sword from its holster before he could react, but it was knocked from her hand and she had glowed black and was thrown into a wall and kept there just as quickly.

"Thanks, Raven," Robin said, standing up. Raven had her hand extended and held Ravager to the wall with her mind powers.

"You don't have to keep attacking us," Cyborg said to her while helping Jericho to his feet. "If you don't cut it out, you're going to have quite a fight on your hands, little lady."

"I already do," Ravager replied, and with a quick movement she somehow broke the telekinetic hold that was on her and dropped to the ground, causing Raven to groan and step back quickly while holding her head.

In one massive jump and flip, Ravager cleared all five Titans and was heading down towards Jericho, who thought about moving and then changed his mind and planted himself in front of her, his eyes glowing. Ravager gasped slightly, as if she had nearly forgotten about her brother's powers, but here was no stopping it now. Jericho made contact with her eyes and had possessed her before she even touched the ground.

"Oh, yeah!" Cyborg cried. "Bet she didn't see that one coming."

Jericho made Ravager stand up, then proceeded to give her everything he had, landing every punch to her face with all the strength he could muster from her in the little time he had, because for some reason he could feel himself being thrown from Ravager's body, and he managed to get a few more hits in before he separated from her and went crashing to the ground.

Ravager seemed to be ignoring the fact that she had just beat herself up, and she reached to a device in her ear and pressed a button, and a small red light blinked quickly. Jericho looked up at the two buildings on either side of them, and saw that red light was blinking there as well. Ravager had somehow rigged the surroundings during the fight with bombs. His eyes widened as he turned to the Titans, trying to get them to understand that if they didn't move now, this whole street was going to explode, and they were all going up with it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow, not very many reviews on the last chapter, but since it's time for my weekly update, here goes!**

**-T-**

Adeline Wilson sat at the cubicle in her office and slowly wrung out her hands, completely oblivious of the work she was required to do today. A job working with a weekly magazine had never been her idea of how to make a living when she was younger, but here she was. Being the boss of all the other employees was a hard job as well, but at least it made good income.

Normally, she was all business when it came to assigning stories and hiring or firing people, but today she seemed to be in slow motion; little was it known to anyone else, but she had both her sons on her mind and worried that something was terribly wrong. Sitting around all day and waiting for the news about your oldest child's death to be comfirmed was not exactly a relaxing process.

Adeline picked up one of the many pens off her desk and tapped it on her coffee mug impatiently. All she had been doing for the past few weeks was sitting around and waiting for word from Joseph. She hadn't talked to him since the last time he had called, and she couldn't really talk _with_ him that way. She spent most of her free time hoping she would find a letter from him in the mail saying that he was all right, and especially she wanted to hear that Grant was still alive and well. She had been on the internet a few times, searching in American news for any sign of the boy's death, but it didn't even relieve her that she found none. If just one person in that country died, it was more than likely not going to be reported, so it was best to just wait to hear it all from Joseph.

She leaned back in her chair and glanced around the cubicle wall to the left of her, where a man sat typing quickly at a computer. Lately every man reminded her of Slade, and it angered her severely. That lying, cheating, killer who had been proud enough to gamble with her son's life and cost him his voice forever, who had a teenage daughter that no one had even known about, and who probably killed people for a living when he had said he was 'away on business'. And what about Grant? Slade had been the one who had broken the news to her, and he hadn't been very gentle about it. Adeline decided to assume it was true for a second, just to marvle at her husband's harshness over the situation. Grant was Slade's son as well, so how cold-hearted could a father get?

She was so angry that she would have signed the divorced papers in a hearbeat if they had been in front of her, but in reality she was staring at the man in the next cubicle with a look of terrible hatred, and he stopped typing and looked at her strangely.

"Is there something I can do for you, ma'am?" he said warily.

Adeline blinked hard and returned to the present, softening her expression and stuttering, "Oh no, no, I was just- um, no. I'm sorry. Please- uh, continue with your work." She turned back to her own computer and laid her fingers lightly across the keyboard, though she didn't type anything. Now she felt like such an idiot. She glanced at the clock and sighed. She would have to have some word from Joseph soon, or she didn't know what she was going to do.

**-T-**

Jericho heard faint voices in the distance that sounded as if they were thousands of miles away and struggling to get closer. He opened his eyes slightly and saw a dim light somewhere, but he couldn't quite focus on it yet. He stretched slowly, but a sharp pain quickly drove him back to his original position. Obviously, it was best not to move right now. But what had happened, and where was he? He wanted to ask, but couldn't lift his hands very much to sign the questions. He blinked hard and finally managed to make out four dark figures around him. He sighed heavily in an attempt to moan, and one of the figures moved.

"I believe he is waking up," a thin female voice whispered. Someone touched his arm, and the same voice said gently, "Jericho, are you okay? Please tell us."

He nodded slowly. He didn't feel okay, but he might as well tell her that he was. But who was she, anyway, and the rest of these people around him? And _where_ was he? He wished that he was at home in Tibet in his own bed with his mother standing above him, but his senses told him that he wasn't.

Someone flicked on a small light and now Jericho could focus better. He was in a small space with a single window that was covered with thick blinds, and he recognized it as a hospital room. It reminded him of when he had woken up after getting stitches in his throat a few years ago, and wondered if he was reliving that again, but his throat didn't hurt. The back of his neck, maybe, but not his throat.

Jericho focused on the people around him, blurrily at first, but after he strained his eyes he could make out four of the Titans, and his memory came flooding back to him right to where the bomb and had gone off in the alley. So that was what was wrong with him.

"Hey man, you've been out for hours, are you okay?" Cyborg asked.

This time Jericho didn't nod. Now that he was more conscious, he could feel that his body was in such pain that it was hard to tell what hurt and what didn't. Something heavy was on his right arm. He glanced down and saw an IV. How long had he been asleep, and how long had he been in the hospital? He turned his head towards the closest person and saw Robin. He brought his hands together and managed to sign, _"How long?"_

"You've been out since late last night," Robin replied, opening the blinds on the window, but no light came inside. "It's nine o'clock now."

So he had been knocked out for nearly twenty hours or so, and it was no wonder. Jericho remembered the bomb, but whatever detail had happened after that, it was obvious that he had taken the blow hard.

"Dude, we were starting to think you went into a coma," Beast boy said seriously, for once. "What hurts?"

Jericho struggled to sit up a little, but when he discovered it was a lost cause, he laid back and signed painfully_, "Everything."_

Starfire stood up and laid a hand on his forehead. "If you were not injured, I would hug you. We wish for you to be okay now please."

_So do I,_ Jericho thought, and he smiled at Starfire's sweetness, but she was no longer looking at him. "I believe he has the fever," she said.

"I'd say he does," Robin replied. "Somebody should tell..."

Jericho tried to listen to what else was said after that, but even though he fought it, he closed his eyes again and fell asleep.

**-T-**

Raven sat alone in a small waiting room, her arms crossed and her knees pressed tightly together. She was the only one of Titans who had not been to Jericho's room, and she wanted it to stay that way. Though it was not like her to be like this, she felt mostly responsible for the damage he had taken. Right before the bomb Ravager planted went off, Raven had thrown up a large shield to protect herself and the rest of the team, but how could she have missed Jericho? She had been aiming for everybody, and she had missed him. How could she have messed up with something as serious as that? The rest of the team had escaped damage, but Jericho had taken the explosion head on and now he was the one paying for her mistake.

Raven had kicked herself a thousand times already, but she couldn't let herself feel too bad about it or her powers would get out of control and they might have another explosion of their own here. Secondly, she hated hospitals and had been here for almost twenty-four hours, and it was about to drive her crazy. At least the room she was in was small and quiet, with nobody else in it. There were two chairs, a TV in the right corner near the ceiling, and on the left wall was a window that allowed her to see somewhat into the hall. She was sitting at the opposite wall from the door.

Cyborg came down the hall and opened the door to the room, coming in and letting it fall closed behind him. He smiled pleasantly at Raven, who just looked dully at him.

"Jericho woke up a few minutes ago," he said, walking over and cramming his bulky metal frame into the chair beside her. "He stayed awake long enough for us to tell him what's going on, but then he fell asleep again."

"Did he act like he was in pain?"

"Well sort of, but they've got him on so much medication, it's hard to tell when he's awake and when he's not," Cyborg joked. Then his smiled died when he saw that Raven didn't find it humerous. True, she almost never laughed or smiled, but for some reason he could tell that there was a reason this time. "It's not your fault, you know."

Raven gave him a withering look. "Cyborg, I was negligent."

"But it's not your fault. You tried to protect him from the blast, but you didn't, so-"

"I could have, and I don't know why I messed up," Raven said sternly, but she refused to let her voice rise. She had to keep her emotions under control. Soon she had to get out of this room and go somewhere for some serious meditation. "I know he would have helped me, so he deserves to be helped, doesn't he?" She stood from her chair and let her cloak fall forward over her shoulders. "I'm going home for some rest, and in the morning I'm coming back to heal him."

Cyborg stood too. "Can you do that? I mean, with someone's whole body and everything? I know you've done it with Robin's arm before, and you didn't even fix that all the way. What are you going to do for Jericho?"

Raven stopped walking and glanced back over her shoulder. "Everything I can."

She continued out the door and down the hall a ways and saw Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy coming out of the elevator. She turned to avoid them, but Starfire flew over quickly and put a hand on Raven's shoulder. "He has fallen asleep again," she said innocently.

"I know," Raven replied. She glance up from the floor. "Robin... I think something should be done about Slade and his new apprentice."

Robin looked at her in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up. "Well yeah, we've always thought that. But you know it's not just that easy."

Raven crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. "_Something _should be done. For some reason, those two seem to really have their sights set on Jericho."

"Well they apparently don't like that we've got someone else on our side," Beast Boy said.

"Of course they don't, it's just one more person they have to fight against; one more person that's there to foil their evil plans," Cyborg agreed.

Raven suddenly remembered the other day when Jericho told her he had something to tell her about Slade. Maybe Slade had hassled Jericho the same way he had Robin before. But Raven didn't want to tell the others that Jericho had said that about Slade to her. If he had wanted the rest of the team to know, he would have told them.

"So, what exactly do you have in mind to do to Slade?" Robin asked.

"Wait, someone must stay here with Jericho before we do anything," Starfire said.

Beast Boy raised a hand. "I will. But I want to know what's going on in case you need back-up."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Let's all go outside and I'll tell you what I have in mind."

**-T-**

The half moon was high in the sky and halfway covered in thin clouds by midnight that night. The city lights could be seen in the distance over the tree-covered hill beside the abandoned sewer below, where a huge chunk of earth had been dug from the ground and then tunneled down straight into the pipe. Four figures moved silently through the dark night, then paused above the sewer to take direction from the leader.

Robin held up a hand to stop the team behind him and listened intently. He could hear water somewhere down below dripping slowly but steadily, and he waved the team forward. Cyborg, because of his size, seemed to be the only one that was having trouble keeping quiet, but he managed. When they reached the entrance of the pipe, Robin held up a hand again, stopping them once more. He pointed to Raven and motioned her inside, and she teleported down into the ground with her powers and traveled down the length of the pipe in her soul self form, which was like a large black, transparent raven.

Raven carefully scanned the sewers with her powers and her senses until she picked up sounds from about a mile down. Still inside the cement walls, she slowed down and then stopped when she caught sight of a single lantern hanging from the ceiling and casting off a light orange glow and reflecting off the shallow water below. A girl, obviously Ravager, leaned motionless against the wall with her hands behind her back, and Raven new it was time to signal the others. She traveled up through the dirt and rocks and shot high up into the hair in her raven form to show the team that it was time to move.

"There's Raven's signal," Robin whispered, and Starfire grabbed his hands and flew towards Raven, who had returned to her normal form, as Cyborg followed behind. Starfire got there quickly and dropped Robin to the ground quietly as he nodded once at her. She nodded in return and brought back both hands behind her head, her fingers bent savagely, and aimed at the spot Raven had exited the ground from, charging up a large starbolt. As she was doing this, Cyborg got his sonic cannon poised and ready, and Robin whipped out a few bombs from his utility belt. They let all three weapons fly at one time, and the explosion was massive as the ground and cement pipe way below were blown to pieces.

In the pipe, Ravager gasped and threw up her hands to protect her head as rock and cement fell down around her. Before the dust and dirt was even cleared, she saw herself glowing black as she was lifted by what seemed like nothing out through the makeshift hole and into the night air. Not surprisingly, she found herself face-to-face with four of the Titans. Jericho was not with them either. Ravager tried to fight against the telekinetic powers that suspended her above the ground, but it was useless. Raven, the source of the power, narrowed her eyes angrily and clutched her hand into a fist, constricting the force she held on Ravager and causing her to cry out.

"Tell us what you want with Jericho," Raven demanded slowly.

Starfire, eyes glowing green, landed on the ground and planted her feet far apart. "You attempted to destroy him. What has he ever done to you?"

"So you don't know?" Ravager teased, gasping from the pressure that held her, but still managing to keep her cool. "Apparently you don't know him very well."

"And you do?" Cyborg said, aiming his sonic cannon directly at her face. "You have some explaining to do here."

Ravager grinned defiantly and managed to reach into her belt and drop a flash bomb. Raven tried to cover her eyes, but it exploded and she was blinded, her concentration breaking, which left her no choice but to let go of her mental hold on Ravager, who dropped to the ground and whipped out a bo staff.

Robin moved to jump her, but Starfire was faster and planted eye beams into the girl's stomach, causing her to drop her weapon and slide across the ground a few yards. Cyborg grabbed Ravager by both arms and held her dangling above the ground as Raven walked forward, her eyes glowing white. "We have a few things to say in Jericho's favor, since he's not here to say it for himself."

"Go right ahead," Ravager said, and she twisted her body around and kicked Cyborg in the face with both feet and sent him reeling. She landed gracefully on the ground and pressed a button on her belt, which started blinking.

"You can call Slade," Robin said, "but we're ready for him too. For Jericho's sake, you're not getting out of this one." He pulled his bo staff out and twirled it a few times around his fingers, making it plain to the girl in front of him that he was ready for battle and wasn't afraid to fight her, even with two less people on the team than he had last time.

Ravager reached into a holster tied to her hip and pulled a sword from its sheath, causing a metallic sound as it swished from the leather. "We'll see about that." She held the sword in front of her. "And I know Jericho's not dead. I saw you take him alive yesterday. So you can stop with the mind tricks." She narrowed her eyes behind her mask. "Me and him have a few things to get straight."

"No," Raven said, the glowing of her eyes even more intense than before. "You and I have a score to settle now. You _will_ pay."

The bright moon above was covered by a thick cloud, and everything went dark.


	12. Chapter 12

_Joseph turned around to face the movement he heard behind him and sucked in a breath. His older brother Grant stood rigid with a high-powered machine gun propped on his shoulder, dressed in army fatigues and wearing a slight smirk on his face._

_"Grant?" Joseph said hopefully, taking a step forward with clenched fists. There were no other people and no surroundings. Not even a floor, though they were both standing as normal. Not anything at all; just a strange white light covering everything that seemed to come from nowhere._

_Grant tossed a lock of blond hair out of his eyes. "Miss me, Joey?"_

_Joseph stood with his mouth slightly agape. This couldn't be real. He hadn't seen his brother for months, so why was he so suddenly here? Why was he carrying a gun? And how did he get that awful, bleeding gash from his forehead to his cheekbone? Joseph wanted to ask, but when he tried to speak he realized he no longer had a voice. No matter how hard he tried to speak, nothing came out. It seemed as if something like this had happened before, but he couldn't place it._

_"Don't believe everything you hear," Grant said. To have such a painful-looking wound, he didn't seem to be very bothered by it. "Slade only wants you to believe I'm dead. Well if I was, would I be standing here right now?"_

_Joseph clutched his throat at the sudden inability to speak, though he felt no pain. He had so many questions to ask his brother, so many things to tell him. But it was as if his throat was paralyzed._

_"Joseph," Grant said, reaching out with the free hand that was not supporting his weapon. "I need your help. Nobody else knows where to find me."_

_Find him? But he was standing right here! Joseph tried to take his brother's outstretched hand, but even with as struggling as hard as he was, he couldn't move. It was like his body has been frozen in time, the only thing free to move being his eyes. He looked up at Grant's face and was surprised to see it suddenly bruised._

_Grant turned to leave, then stopped in mid-step and turned his head back to look at his little brother. "By the way, next time you talk to Mom, tell her I said hey." Then he continued walking, weapon still on his shoulder, and seemingly disappeared into the bright light._

_No, don't go! Come back! Joseph panicked at his brother's sudden departure, but he was unable to do anything, even move his own body. He glanced upwards and saw that the strange white light was fading and being replaced by a starless night sky, ebony colored. He could barely see the ground now, and noticed large snowflakes falling from the dark clouds above, covering the grass in a thin white layer. He stiffened when he felt a warm breath on the back of his neck, and wanted to cry out when two large hands were placed on each of his shoulders. He wanted to move, to run, but he was still frozen in place as he had been before. _

_"Joseph..." a deep voice said slowly, ominously. Slade. Joseph's heart raced. This shouldn't frighten him so badly, but it did. He nearly hyperventilated in an effort to get away, but although he could now move at will, those two hands bound him tightly and prevented him from running away. Joseph started crying silently with fear, and he once again felt powerless. All he wanted was to get away, to feel safe, and not be terrified of his own father. But he was, and though he could now struggle against the strong grip on his shoulders, it never entered his head to fight. He wanted to get away from here, out of this grip, back with his mother or friends, after his brother, anything, anything to get out of this situation but he couldn't and he tried to scream but he couldn't do that either and-_

Jericho woke up with a start and felt the presence of being in another environment. He was lying on his right side with his forehead on a soft bed, both hands curled up under the pillow in sweaty fists. He breathed hard, though steadily, and forced his eyes open with great effort. He didn't see much, since his face was buried in the covers, but the rest of his senses reminded him that he was in the hospital. So did the IV that was throbbing in his wrist. Though slightly groggy, he felt more alert than the last time he had awakened and wanted to sit up and see what was going on.

But he didn't get far. Right when he tensed up his body to move, a searing, terrible pain shot through every body part he had. He gasped in silence and quickly resumed the position he held a few moments ago, his heart beating rapidly from the pain he had just experienced. As he forced himself to recover from it, he managed to move his hand enough to push the covers away from his face and look around. He was facing the window, the door and bathroom behind him, and he could see through the closed blinds on the window that it was still dark outside. The reclining chair beside the bed was empty, though there were signs that someone had been there recently.

Why was his guitar chords suddenly running through his head? Jericho tried to shake it off, but for some reason it kept coming back, puzzling him. It was probably just the medication that was wearing off. He pushed his bangs off his forehead, which felt dirty to the touch, and realized that his left hand was about the only thing he could move without pain. He was thirsty, and he wanted a shower, though there was little chance of that for now. What if Raven came in and saw him dirty and groggy? He sure didn't want that.

He heard the heavy door swing open, and a beam of light came into the room and hit the wall. He heard quick footsteps, and a skinny, middle-aged nurse came around the side of the bed and bent down beside him. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a green shirt, a namtag hanging from a clip around her neck. Jericho felt too tired to read it, but he did managed to smile at the nurse.

She smiled back broadly with relief, and his eyes closed as she laid a hand on his forehead to check for fever. "It's good to see you awake," she said sincerely. "You've been sleeping for a long time. I think all the nurses on this floor are worried about you."

He smiled again weakly, then opened his eyes halfway. She speaked to him like she knew he wasn't going to talk back, so it was obvious someone had told the nurses that he was mute.

"Can you move at all?" she asked, and he shook his head. "Does it hurt too bad?" He nodded. "Your medication must be wearing off. I'll get you some more in a few minutes." She took his blood pressure, which seemed to be low, and later took out the IV from his wrist and replaced it in he back of his hand. The pain in the rest of his body was so great that he didn't even notice the stab of the needle.

After stroking his hair a couple of times, the nurse left the room and pulled the door closed behind her. Jericho had heard that most of the time the nurses and the doctors took a long time to return to the room with medicine and things, but he had never had that experience. The last time he was in the hospital with a nearly lacerated throat, everyone had flocked over him continually, and there had been no delay for someone to get to him. He hadn't known what it meant back then, but he was in the ICU for a few days before finally being moved to a room with a few other kids in the Children's Hospital for recovery. He was glad to have his own space at the present moment, though he would rather not be alone if he had the choice.

The door opened again slowly, then closed quietly as someone walked into the room and made their way around the bed towards the direction of the window. Jericho saw someone wearing black and purple out of the corner of his eye, then sighed with relief when he saw Beast Boy come into view.

"Dude," he green changeling said quiety, "didn't know you were awake. How are you feeling?"

Jericho shook his head to insinuate 'not good'. He used one hand to motion for pen and paper, and Beast Boy looked around the room for a few minutes until he found just what he was looking for in a drawer beside the bathroom. Jericho took it from his friend and flexed the pen in his fingers. Luckily, he could write with either hand, and it was quite convenient now. "Everything hurts."

Beast Boy read the words, and nodded sympathetically. "I'd say it does. What hurts the most?"

"My left shoulder," Jericho wrote. "It's making it hard to write."

"You took that bomb head on," Beast Boy said seriously. "You probably landed on your left side. Who knows how many cuts and bruises you have. I heard a doctor say something about broken ribs."

It wouldn't surprise Jericho. Neither would a doctor saying every bone in Jericho's body was broken or at least fractured. He had never felt such pain.

"You'll be okay eventually," Beast Boy said, sitting down in the chair beside the bed. "Don't know how long it'll take though."

Jericho wrote slowly. "Where are the others?" He turned the pad of paper around so Beast Boy could see.

"Well, they're, um... I'm not exactly sure."

"You're not telling me something."

Beast Boy shook his head. "They'll be back soon."

"What time is it?"

"Late, or early, whichever one you want to say. About four a.m."

Jericho laid the paper down and rested his arm. He never thought it would take so much out of him to write a few sentences. He titled his head back and forth and managed to ignore the pain in his neck, which wasn't quite as intense as the other pain in his body. He was suddenly hit by a wave of fatigue, and he fought sleep. He didn't want to go unconscious again, he had just woken up. But it was starting to look like it was inevitable, and as he closed his eyes again he heard the nurse enter the room and felt her stroke his hair once more before falling asleep.

**-T-**

Ravager was slammed with such strength into the trunk of a tree that the ground below nearly shook from the force of it. The Titans, especially the dark girl Raven, seemed to be all business. There was no going easy tonight. She was trying to fight back as best she could, and she had left her own marks upon the enemy team, but she was outnumbered and outclassed this time. Raven was the one that was really giving it to her, and with her powers, she didn't even have to physically touch Ravager to inflict damage. Even with one Titan missing, the team had beaten Ravager down right to where they wanted her- bruised, bleeding, and weak.

As Ravager slid down from the tree and hit the ground, she wondered when Slade would arrive on the scene. She had signaled for him nearly half an hour ago, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to get to her. She felt shame that she couldn't take the Titans on by herself this time, and she mentally kicked herself for slacking. Sure, she wasn't

super-human or anything, but the way she had been trained all of her life, getting beaten in this fight was an embarrassment to her teacher- Slade. Perhaps that was why he wasn't helping her at the moment. Maybe he wanted her to fix the problem herself, but her opponents had driven through even her armor and were not holding back to drive her into the dirt.

"You have to learn who you can mess around with and who you can't," Raven growled, her cloak blowing in the wind as she hovered in the air. "If you want Jericho, you have to go through us. Azarath Metrion _Zinthos!_" She raised her hands and four massive chunks of rock rose from the ground. At her command, and she threw them two at a time at Ravager, who barely dodged the first two and had to whip out her bo staff and whack the next two to pieces just to avoid being crushed.

A few dozen starbolts rained down upon Ravager from an angry Starfire, who nearly seemed just as protective of Jericho as Raven was. It was bad enough for Ravager to face two infuriated girls, but Robin and Cyborg were not making the job any easier. Cyborg fired off a few long shots from his sonic cannon, one of them hitting its mark and sending Ravager skidding across the grass and smashing into the side of an old building.

Rising to her hands and knees, Ravager spit a stream of blood onto the grass and coughed. A hand snatched the back of her broken armor and shoved her unmercifully into the wall, knocking the breath out of her once more. She squinted in the dark and caught a glimpse of Robin before his fist met her face. She saw stars as she dropped to the ground, but tried her best to refuse to go down unconscious. _Where was Slade? _

She opened her eyes and felt a vibration in the ground, then was rammed hard on her blind side and sent reeling. After rolling over a few times, she figured it was probably Cyborg's metal fist. She clutched her side and grimaced with pain, the fight quickly draining out of her. No, she had to get up! She had to fight back. Knees shaking, she managed to stand and pull her sword from the sheath strapped to her back. This was her last chance, and if she had to go down, she would go hacking the Titans with her. She took a deadly swing at the movement beside her, but Starfire dodged the swipe. Reaching out with her eyes glowing, the Tamaranian girl grabbed the blade on each flat side and yanked it free from Ravager's grip, who couldn't even begin to hang on now. Starfire took the sword in both hands and bent it beyond reconstruction without effort, then threw it backwards over her shoulder. A blast of power from Raven's hand sent Ravager to the ground one more, who didn't show signs of wanting to get back up.

Robin held up a hand to his team to signal that it was finally time for the attacks to stop. "All right, Ravager," he said, reaching down and pulling her up to her knees. "You're going to tell us where we can find Slade."

"I won't," she said stubbornly. "He's probably going to come to you, anyway."

Robin shook her hard once. "You don't have a choice but to tell us. But either way, we're going to take him down just like we did you. Now where is he?"

Ravager was quiet for a second, then titlted up her head and spit blood right into Robin's face, who dropped her roughly to the ground and turned his back.

Ravager smiled to herself slightly as she lay spread-eagle on the ground. They weren't going to get Slade's location out of her, no way. They could beat her all they wanted, but she could take it. It was just part of the way she was trained. And though she had been taken down with blood and bruises, she somehow still felt victorious. No matter what the Titans did to her, she and Slade were going to get Jericho on their side with whatever it took.

It was her last thought before she passed out.

**-T-**

**First of all, I know I just updated, but I gotta do what I gotta do. **

**Yeah, the Titans were really harsh in this chapter. But that's what happens when Raven gets mad. So Robin's basically mad because Raven is, Starfire's mad because Robin is, and Cyborg's just basically following orders. **

**R&R, please.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I just wanted to point out something about the last few chapters, and that is a few of you wanted to know why Ravager was hanging out in a pipe instead of Slade's secret lair. The Titans, with Jericho, had invaded the abandoned warehouse a while back, so the empty sewer pipe _was _their lair after that, until the Titans blew it to pieces. Anyway, I guess I might as well get on with writing the story.**

**-T-**

The light was overly bright when Ravager opened her eyes, and she closed them again quickly to avoid the discomfort, swaying her head back and forth on something soft as a wave of pain hit her. She forced her eyes open again and discovered that she was staring at a white ceiling with bright fluorescent lights built in. She ran a hand along whatever she was laying on and felt soft fabric, like a cot or a bed of some sort. She was able to focus a little better and saw that she was in a small room with two white walls that she could see, one in front of her and one to the left. She couldn't see what was behind her. She turned her head to the right and sucked in a breath when she realized that the other wall was just a line of bars. She was in jail! But how? She woke with a start and sat up.

"It's about time you figured out where you are," a female voice said. Ravager just now noticed that there was another bed in the cell, across from her, and a skinny girl with blonde hair in a ponytail was sitting on it with a dull look on her face.

Ravager quickly put a hand to her face and let out a small sigh of relief. Her mask was still on. She knew her face had to be covered with blood and bruises underneath, in token that the Titans had not been standing around idle. She wanted to ask the girl how long she had been asleep, but she only glared at the blonde with distrust. How could she have messed up enough to where not only the Titans defeated her, but shipped her off to jail in her unconsciousness? What a disappointment she had to be to Slade. All of her training and trust that she had shared with her father, and now she had practically ruined it.

"Are you okay? You look kind of wounded," the girl said.

Was she okay? What a stupid question. Nearly every part of her body hurt, but she just gritted her teeth a let herself bear it. That was another way she had been trained over the years. You had to feel the pain, but not let it get in the way of battle. It wasn't always easy, but that was her life.

"So," the girl continued, seeing that it was obvious her new cell make wasn't going to asnwer her last question, "who are you? I've never seen you in here before."

Ravager licked her dry lips. "You don't know?" The girl shook her head. Ravager ran her hands along her belt and was not surprised to find that all of her weapons were gone. "I'm Ravager."

The girl blinked. The name obviously didn't ring a bell. "Really. Well, I'm Samantha. Call me Sam." She reached out a hand, which Ravager just ignored. After a few seconds of silence, Sam crossed her arms and leaned her back against the wall. "So, am I supposed to recognize you or something?"

Ravager pondered the question for a moment. Not many people would know who Slade was at first or even second glance. He always made his moves in the dark, or when no one was looking. Best to follow after her role model. "I guess not."

As if she had read Ravager's mind a few moments ago, Sam said, "You've been here for about two hours, asleep the whole time." Her eyes traveled from Ravager's mask and over her tight body-suit, examining the rips and tears in the costume and flesh. "What happened to you?"

"None of your business."

"It looks like you got in a fight with a buzzsaw."

Ravager glared. "Maybe I did. What's it to you?"

Sam shrugged.

Ravager swung her legs over the side of the cot and touched the floor gently. It was no surprise that everything was hurting. The dark Titan, Raven, was the one who had especially dished out the beatings, and it seemed as if the rest of the team was just following her. It was almost like Raven had been the leader of the Titans there for a few minutes.

"Well, I've got to get out of here," Ravager said impatienly.

"Get out? You've already had some medical treatment. You aren't-"

"Did they take off my mask at any point?" Ravager demanded, throwing her sharp glare over at Sam, who stuttered.

"I- I don't know. How would-"

"Just tell me if they did or if they didn't! I know you saw."

"Not that I know of. And besides, why does it matter? You're really strange, you know."

"I didn't claim to be anything else," Ravager barked. She extended her arm. "Help me up."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I'm not here to cater to all of your needs."

Ravager was infuriated. This girl had no respect for her! True, she didn't even know who Ravager was, but she would learn soon enough. "Let's get this straight, princess. As long as I'm in here, which isn't going to be for long, we go by what I say, go it?"

"Woah, I don't think so. "The girl held up a hand.

"I'm not going to be here for long," Ravager repeated. "But if I need help at any time, I expect that you'll do it."

"Since when have I become your slave? And what's with the mask? Are you some kind of supervillain or something?" Sam said sarcastically.

Ravager smirked, her eyes narrowing. _You don't know how close you are._ "I think you'll find good reason to do what I say."

Sam crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows with a challenge. Ravager sighed. It was time to get rough. In the flash of one swift motion, she siezed the girl by one wrist, kicked her in the stomach to subdue her, and flipped her over onto her face on the tile floor. Twisting Sam's arms upward behind her back, Ravager let one knee fall hard between her victim's shoulder blades. The entire movement had been so quick that Sam had no time to react even if she had tried.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," Ravager said coldly. Sam panted beneath her and made an attempt to double over, but she was pinned tight to the floor. "Now, are you going to cooperate with me or make this difficult?"

Sam moaned a little. "I guess I'll help you."

"I thought so." Ravager released her cellmate and stood up. "We're not going to be friends, but I might help you if you help me, if I feel like it."

Sam sat up and held her stomach, cringing painfully. "You've got a pretty swift kick there. Do you take karate or something?"

What a stupid question with an obvious answer. Ravager grinned evilly at the other girl. "As long as I'm here, it lookes like we have a few things to learn about each other. Now tell me how tight the security is in this place."

**-T- 1 month later**

"Hey dude, are you gonna wake up anytime today? It's almost noon!" Beast Boy beat his fist on the heavy door impatiently.

Inside the room, Jericho opened his eyes and found that he was lying in an unusually soft bed and facing a large window. He squinted in the light, confused and disoriented. For a moment or so he couldn't remember where he was until his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light enough to where he could see. He focused around on his surroundings, expecting to see the cramped room of the hospital, but was relieved to discover that he was in his room in Titans Tower. What a relief. That hospital had been starting to give him cabin fever.

He stretched slowly, careful not to strain a tender muscle or hurt his ribs again. Most of his injuries had healed, save for a few scratches and bruises. He pulled the thick covers down and sat up, running a hand through his hair. He had been out of the hospital for awhile now, but he had grown accustomed to waking up in the morning and seeing the small recovery room.

Raven had been to see him a few days after he had been wounded by the bomb explosion, and she had tried her best to heal him as much as she possibly could. It sped up his recovery, but most of his injuries were healing independently. Jericho still felt tender and fragile, even now. He had to be very careful with what he did or the moves he made, so when the Titans were called out into the city for a danger call, he was usually left behind to sit around the tower by himself until they came back. He didn't like feeling useless, and had recently insisted on joining them the next time they were called out. Robin had refused to let him. "If you're going to stay with us, we're somewhat responsible for your health", he had said.

Now Jericho got out of bed stiffly, supporting himself on the nighttable beside the bed. He figured this was sort of what it felt like to be an old man. He changed clothes slowly. Robin had told him not to rush himself in anything until he was completely well. As slow as it was going, Jericho didn't feel like he would ever be well again. After brushing his hair with a comb, he headed out into the hall so Beast Boy would stop prodding him to get up.

"So you finally decided to wake up," Beast Boy teased. "I was starting to wonder if you were okay."

Jericho nodded. _"Yeah, I'm okay,"_ he signed. _"Just a little sore, though."_

"Well of course you are, you're still wounded. By the way, Robin wants to see you in the kitchen."

Jericho walked down the hall. The sound of his footsteps echoed unevenly, in token of the limp in his sprained ankle. No amount of ice on it had seemed to help, and they had been back to the doctor about it, though all he did was give Jericho more pain medicine. The gentle teenager spent most of his time groggy from medication, and he was starting to build an immunity to the pills. He guessed he would just have to live in pain for awhile, but he refused to complain about it.

When he finally reached the kitchen, he met Raven's sympathetic look from the chair where she sat, her arms crossed and resting on the table in front of her. He smiled at her, but the gaze they held was interrupted by Robin saying Jericho's name, who turned to face his friend.

Robin's expression was serious. That wasn't unusual, but something seemed to be different, like the other boy knew something that obviously wasn't good. He extended his hand, which held a white envelope between the fingers. "This came for you in the mail," he said plainly.

Jericho, confused at the grim looks he was getting, took the envelope and turned it around to read the addresses. His real name was not on the front of it, but his alias and the address of Titans Tower. He glanced up at Robin again, who just looked back. What was the big deal about this envelope? It was probably a letter from his mother to check up on how he was doing.

He slid his finger beneath the paper to break the seal, but something with the writing caught his eye. The return address. It didn't say much, just one word.

Jackal.

**-T-**

A chill ran through Jericho's body. The name alone made him run a finger over the scar on his throat. That man. That reason he didn't have a voice today.

At the table, Raven looked like she wanted to come over and put a supporting hand on his shoulder, but that was out of character for her. Robin still stood ramrod straight beside Jericho. How did they know that this letter was something bad? Did they know who Jackal was, like they had past experiences with him?

Jericho forced himself to move and opened the envelope with great caution. There was no telling what could be inside. But when he looked, there was only a single piece of paper. He slid it out and unfolded it slowly, ready to drop the paper cover his head for anything that could fall out or be thrown at him. But there was nothing, just a short letter with limited words.

_I'm sure you know who I am. It's been a long time, but let's get to the point. Bring your father to me; we have some unfinished business to take care of. You have something I want, as do I you. Don't delay. You know where I'll be found. -Jackal_

Grant's face suddenly flashed in Jericho's mind. He quickly folded the letter back up before anyone saw the words. He looked at Robin and signed, _"How did you know this was bad news before I even opened it?"_

Robin looked at Raven, as if to tell her to take the floor. She did. "Jericho, I'm a telekinetic. But sometimes I see things, like visions of the future, or the past. That's kind of what happened with you."

_"You saw my past?"_ His heart started pounding. What if she had seen too much? What if she knew who his father was?

"A glimpse of it, yes. So I know who this Jackal man is and what he did to you." Her eyes softened. "I'm sorry."

Jericho looked down at the paper in his hands. Maybe it would be better to just tell them. If his suspiciouns were right and Jackal had somehow managed to get a hold of Grant, which in itself would be a hard and dangerous job, he was going to need help. But he couldn't be sure about anything right now, and he especially did not want to bring Slade with him when he went anywhere.

Jericho had to go after Jackal for the sake of Grant. For his brother's safety, he had to at least chance the fact that

Grant was what Jackal had referred to as something Jericho wanted. It had to be done.

"If there's any action that needs to be taken, we're going to help you," Robin said. The serious air about him had not changed in the last few minutes. He seemed to be all business, just the way Jericho felt- minus the confusion in the latter.

Jericho nodded his thanks. Raven stood from the table and motioned for him to follow her into the other room, which he did. Jericho had gotten to trust Raven even more over the past month. She acted differently toward him than she did to everyone else; she was almost nice with Jericho. She deserved to know things and trust him the way he trusted her. So no secrets. He planned on eventually informing her of the crush he had on her, as hard as that would be, but right now she needed to know other things.

"Are you okay?" Raven asked. Jericho nodded and handed her the letter. She shook her head at first, holding up her hand to stop him. "It's not right for me to read your mail, you know." When Jericho insisted with a thrust of his hand, she took it from him in her thin fingers and unfolded it slowly. Her violet eyes scanned over the words, then met his gaze. "What does it mean?"

_"That's what I want you to know," _Jericho signed._ "I have a few things to tell you."_

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

Jericho shook his head. _"You need to know. Raven... this man Jackal had me as a hostage because he wanted something from my father, who thought he could move fast enough to save me. Which he did I guess." _He touched the scar on his throat again.

"He didn't move fast enough to save your voice," Raven said. She wasn't accusing or downing anyone, just pointing out a fact with a slight sympathy.

_"Exactly. But the important thing I want to tell you is, well..." _Jericho didn't know where to start. How did he just tell someone this, especially Raven? He felt embarrassed and shy around her anyway, and this was nearly torture. What if he told her and she never wanted to have anything to do with him again? He swallowed repeatedly, struggling to wet his dry mouth and throat and failing miserably. He glanced back at Raven, who stared at him patiently.

Her look said, "tell me whenever you're ready". He would never feel ready- he was putting a lot at risk to tell her this. But he had to tell.

His hands felt heavy as he lifted them to sign. _"It's... it's about Slade. He's... well-" _-he paused and sighed before continuing- _"Raven, I can't walk out of here without telling you this. He's... he's my father. Slade is my father."_

**-T-**

**There, he said it. Took long enough, I know, but I didn't want any rushing going on. Review, please, and get ready for the big showdown that's coming in the next chapter, which will probably be my last. This is the kind of story that sort of had a mind of its own, like I knew where I wanted it to go at first but it went in its own direction. Still came out all right though, don't you think? I just want to thank everybody in advance who's R&Rd, especially Kaiser. Great reviews and tips coming from his direction. Big thanks to everybody else too. So, I'll be waiting for your all's reviews. )**


	14. Chapter 14

**The last chapter. I'm a little nervous.**

**-T- **

Robin put the phone down on the receiver, ending his call with the California airlines with a sharp click. He had just booked a flight to Tibet, which had not been a very simple thing to do with all of the times he had been put on hold. It was lucky for the Titans that they had enough money to pay for it alone, and not to mention six round-trip tickets.

He headed down the hall towards his room, for once wearing jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He strode across the carpet lazily and was hit with a flash back. It had been a long time since he had been on a plane. The last time he could remember was on a vacation with his parents; while he was still young, still just Dick Grayson. Before he was a Titan, before that fateful night at the circus.

The thought left his head as Starfire approached from the other end of the hall. She smiled sweetly and they both stopped when they got close to each other. "Have you reserved the flight for us?" she asked innocently.

Robin had just planned on taking the T-Sub at first, but later took into account that there would have been no room for Jericho. "Yeah. We'll be ready to go in the morning."

"I do not know if Jericho is willing to wait that long," Starfire said, her small eyebrows crinkling a little. "He is seeming to be very intent on finding the Jackal."

"I wonder why," Robin said, more to himself than to Starfire. He put a finger to his chin as he thought deeply. There had always been something a little strange about Jericho, something almost familiar. Robin had lost a few nights of sleep thinking on it, and he told himself to be prepared if this whole trip and friendship was a trap. That familiar feeling he got around Jericho was nearly disturbing, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not place it.

Well, no matter now. It was time to get down to business.

**-T-**

Raven placed two fingers from each hand on her temples and massaged gently. The news she had just received came as a shock, but not entirely a surprise. The visions that had flashed in her mind when Jericho was present had given her enough information to know. Right now Jericho looked afraid of what she might say. She wanted to reassure him. "I already suspected it. Maybe not that he's your father exactly, but I saw Slade in the visions I saw of your past. Somehow I just knew."

Jericho lowered his head, as if he was ashamed. "I won't blame you if you want me to leave now."

"Leave? Jericho, no." He glanced up and met her eyes. "We are not going to disown you just because of who your father is. Even if he is our arch enemy."

Jericho cringed at that last sentence. "I'm sorry, Raven. I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

Jericho paused. He didn't really know, exactly. "For not telling you sooner. And just for the fact that I'm related to him."

Raven's jaw set tightly and her eyes flamed. "Jericho. You cannot help who your father is. Believe me, I know." Her last sentence seemed to be said as if it was a defininte fact. Jericho wondered what she meant by that, but he thought that it would be better not to ask.

"I know, but I can't help but feel bad about it. I guess I'm kinda ashamed."

Surprisingly, Raven reached out a hand and laid the arch of it over his shoulder. "Don't feel that way. I've spent a lot of time doing that, and it doesn't help anything at all. You just have to deal with it."

Jericho sighed silently. "So what now?"

Raven exhaled slowly and stood up. "I think Robin just got us a flight to Tibet." She smiled a little. "We're going to get this Jackal character. And if there's any help you want, you'll get it."

**-T-**

The 747 airplane landed at the small airport in Tibet, right in Jericho's hometown. The Titans had flown first class all the way, and though they had been comfortable, the flight had been a long one.

As the plane touched down on the runway, Jericho was tempted to go to his house to see his mother, but he knew that if he told her why he was home and what was going on, there was no way she'd let him go. Ever since the day he lost his voice, Adeline had had a protectiveness of her son that was more fierce than thought possible. She had struggled not to be unfair to him, but even if she was in the least, he had not complained. So now it was better not to go see her until he got this straightened out with Jackal. No need for her to worry even more.

Jericho had not known what jet lag had felt like until now. He unbuckled his belt at the command of a passing flight attendant, along with the Titans, and waited his turn to exit the plane. Raven was at his shoulder as they slowly descended the steps, and he noted how shiny her violet hair was today.

Cyborg squeezed his broad metal shoulders through the doorframe and sucked in a large breath as they descende the stairs and reached the pavement. "_Whoo!_ Check out that fresh mountain air, ya'll. Sure is a change from all that city smog."

"Yes, it is glorious!" Starfire said, enterlacing her fingers in front of her with glee.

"I've never seen such green mountains," Robin said with admiration, surveying the view of hills which stretched for miles in the distance. "It must be great living here, Jericho."

Jericho nodded. _"I was a little out of place when I came to the city."_

Raven glanced around from face to face and raised an eyebrow. "Did anyone bring any luggage?"

The silence that followed answered her question. Beside Jericho, who had only a small duffel bag, they had been too much in a hurry to think about it, and now they were stuck with only one uniform apiece. Cyborg went into the airport terminal for sodas while the rest of them waited outside in the cool breeze. Beast Boy streched and looked at the sky.

"It sure is a lot cooler here than in Cali," he said.

Jericho smiled and nodded, but on the inside he was more nervous than he had been in a long time. He was sore and tired, but most of all unsure of what he was going to face here in his hometown. Jackal was obviously a force that was not to be trifled with. And following the man's request for a face-to-face meeting could be like walking blindly into a death-trap. But maybe it could be worth it in the end. What else could Jackal have that Jericho wanted besides his brother?

Cyborg came back outside with an armful of sodas and passed them around. "So Jericho, what next?"

Jericho looked down at the unopened can in his hand uncomfortably. He was not used to being looked to for direction, but now it was obvious that he had no choice. This was mainly his problem, his fight, but now he had others to back him up. Might as well start learning how to give orders. He pushed the can down into his open duffel bag and met the eyes of the Titans one by one. _"I know more than likely where to find... our adversary. Getting there safely is the hard part."_

"We can handle it," Robin said. "Just show us the way."

Jericho nodded nervously and turned to face north-east. _"We just need to go in this direction until I say to stop. I'll know when we get there."_ Seriously he only hoped he would know, for it had been years since he had been to Jackal's lair, and he had only been a young child then. So he would have to just trust his instincts on this one.

**-T-**

"Dude, are we almost there yet? I can't take much more of this," Beast Boy whined a few hours later. His hiking stance had turned into a slouched over, arms dangling, slow pace. Robin and Cyborg marched on without complaints, and the girls flew comfortably overhead.

_"Be quiet,"_ Jericho signed gently, hoisting himself over a large rock. _"It won't be too much farther."_

"Yeah, Beast Boy," Cyborg said from behind

When the six of them made it over the next rocky hill, the view that plummeted down from them was nearly breathtaking. Miles and miles of green grass stretched out over the flowery hills without a speck of an unnatural blemish. Except for one.

A squared off, concrete block building stuck out like a flame in the middle of a snowy scene. Jericho stiffened at the sight of the familiar grey, one-story building and tried to calm his breathing. After coming in contact with this place again, he was being hit with flash backs of years before. Slade. Jackal. That dagger that had been meant to be deadly.

Jericho took a few steps down the steep hill, balancing between rocks, and Raven followed. Now out of sight of the other Titans, Raven pulled her hood over her head, the shadows now hiding her face, and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Good luck," she said plainly.

Jericho nodded his thanks. _"Do the others know what we're up against? Do you?"_

"They only know what you've told them," she replied quietly. "I know by seeing visions of your past." She blinked once, her expression dull. "And by the way, no one else knows about your father."

Jericho looked at her in surprise. _"You haven't told them?"_

"No. And I won't unless that's what you want. I'm just wary of what Robin would do if he found out. He's been very obsessive over Slade for a long time."

The rest of the team came over the hill as she quietly finished her sentence. Robin crossed his arms, his cape blowing in the wind, and leveled his eyes on the building below. "Is that where we need to go?"

_"Yes," _Jericho signed._ "Someone please take me over. Everyone else can follow after I get inside, okay?"_

Starfire flew forward and took Jericho's wrists, taking off at an even pace and supporting his weight without effort. "We will be close behind you for assistance," she said. "And we wish you the luck."

He wanted to sign a thank you, but his hands were occupied with holding onto Starfire's arms. He smiled at the support he was getting, but his nervousness was getting nearly too much to handle.

In no time they had reached the top of the building, and Starfire let him drop from a few feet up, then hovered in the air silently. Jericho landed lightly and turned back to give her a small wave. She nodded, then turned and flew back up the hill to join the Titans.

Now Jericho just had to find an entrance. If he had offensive powers, he would just make one himself, but mere possession wouldn't help him much at the moment. He sat down on the edge of the roof and dangled his legs off before letting himself slide down to the ground. It was just his luck that he landed on his bad ankle, but he managed to ignore the pain and limp around the side of the building to find a door.

After sneaking around for a minute or so, he finally found a tall window that appeared to be spray painted over on the inside with black paint. Since there seemed to be no other way in, he had no choice but to make one somehow. His body suddenly froze as his thoughts seized him. What if he went into this building, confronted his nemesis, and never came out? He shivered at the thought. He had never really thought about dying until the day he had lost his voice, and rarely did afterwards. He realized that what he was about to do was dangerous and could possibly cost him his life if things went too far. A doubt in his mind suddenly told him to back out. It would be better for him; safer.

But that was not the way Jericho functioned. He usually thought of himself last, and that had been the case until now. Butthere was no way he was letting himself back out; there was possibly Grant to think of. He wasn't even sure that his brother was involved in the situation, but Jericho found it more frightening if he was. What if Jericho didn't act and Grant was killed? He would feel awful for the rest of his life. But what if Grant was not even involved at all? Well, it was better to risk it. For Grant's sake.

Jericho silently laid a hand flat on the window and pondered his next move. Should he just break in or call the Titans now? He decided on the former and searched the ground around him for something hard. A crow bar, a rock, anything. But there was nothing. The only choices he had now was either a kick or a punch. He decided on a kick.

He took a step backwards and braced himself for the move. Once he shattered the glass he would have to move quickly and not waste time. He shifted all his weight and hurled a spin-kick into the dark window, driving in his heel and shattering the glass in large chunks.Bright light poured from the inside and voices sounded loudly. Jericho hoisted himself over the remaining glassin the window and landed gracefully on the tile floor inside in one swift move.

He was nearly blinded by the bright lighting of thelarge room, and he squinted his eyes and struggled to gain focus. A masculine yell from his right warned him that he should move; and that he did. He ducked towards the floor and heard someone literally fall over him and land on his left. Jericho stood up and regained sight, caught off guard at the number of men around him and weapons they were carrying. It seemed all the eyes in the building were on him.

"Hey, looks like we've got company," one of the men said, cracking his knuckles.

Jericho wanted to yell to the crowd what he had came for, but that being obviously impossible, instinctively signed what was on his mind.

Hesigned quickly, _"I'm not here to fight with you, I'm here for Jackal."_

A man with dark hair and a heavy New York accent laughed scornfully. "You don't get to Jackal without going through us first." He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand and cracked his knuckles. "We don't wanna hurt ya, kid. Just following orders."

A cluster of men tackled Jericho from his right, who tried to shield himself from the pain and failed, dragging him to the ground mercilessly. He could do nothing but cover his head and grit his teeth as each of the men proceeded to get their own hold on him, but seemed to merely get in each others' way. Jericho heard the sound of a blow and a loud grunt of pain from the top of the pile, then the weight on him shifted and was gone. He uncovered his head and opened his eyes in time to see the men go crashing into a wall as one. He pushed himself to his elbows and looked over his shoulder to see Raven with her glowing hand extended in front of her, eyes smoldering under the shadow of her hood. The rest of the Titans stood silently motionless behind her; and then the calm before the storm was broken.

The crew of men at the left side of the open-spaced building shot towards the Titans, as the latters did the same from the right, and they met in a clash of powers, weapons, and hand-to-hand combat. Jericho was unsure at what to do at first. He stood and scanned the chaotic room with his eyes in search of Jackal, but there was no sign of the man anywhere. Jericho ducked as a man flew by his head in token of Cyborg's metal fist.

Jericho watched the fight from the corner of the room and set his sights on a young, red-headed man who was good in agility and nearly matching Robin move for move. Jericho made his way across the room and dodged a starbolt on the way, never taking his eyes off man who was in deep battle with Robin.

A swift punch from the young man knocked Robin's bo staff from his hand, and the former grinned evilly. Jericho dived through the air and caught the staff before it hit the ground, landing in a somersault and coming to his feet in a hard swing that landed itself in the man's stomach, causing him to double over and hit the ground on his back. Jericho let himself fall with one knee on each side of the man, staring down hard into his victim's eyes, who panted hard and stared back. Jericho's eyes started glowing, and he felt the sensation of possessing the man's body.

His new build was thin yet muscley, and he flexed the man's arms before picking up the bo staff off the ground and stretching his back. He threw the staff backwards and met eyes with Robin briefly, who caught the weapon without effort.

"You'll probably be needing that," Jericho said in the young man's deep voice. It felt good to be able to speak again, even if it wasn't his body.

"Thanks," Robin replied, nodding once. The dialouge was cut short and the fight raged on once more. Jericho felt stronger and more able to do damage in this body, and the man he had possessed's comrades seemed shock that their friend had turned on them, until they realized that the small blond boy had the power of possession. They seemed hesitant to fight their teammate at first, until he had taken out nearly a dozen of them in just a few moves.

On the other side of the room, Starfire and Beast Boy were doing their own amount of damage on their opponents. Starfire zipped through the air, dodging attacks, and rained starbolts down furiously on the men below her. Some of them had laser-like guns, which she knew burned on contant with skin; she had been hit in the shoulder with one. Beast Boy was shape shifing down below like mad and taking out his own share of enemies. Starfire had seen Jericho possess the red-haired man out of the corner of her eye, and now she saw that he was taking a beating. She caught Raven's attention, who had just floored three men at one time, and pointed in Jericho's direction.

"Raven, look!" she cried. Raven followed the trail of Starfire's finger and levitated over to Jericho's attackers, throwing them off with the force of her powers and helping him to his feet with his hand.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Thanks." Raven secretly thought it nice that he was speaking to her, despite that it wasn't his own voice. Suddenly Jericho let himself jump from the man's body, which fell to the ground behind him, and grabbed Raven's cloak. _"Help me find Jackal,"_ he signed.

Raven had been sensing where the man was since she had entered the building, and she turned to point the way out to Jericho, but was cut short by an explosion to her left. Jericho fell on her on the way down, and they landed in a heap on the floor. They looked at each other strangely for a moment, then Jericho got up and whirled to face the large hole in the wall beside them panting heavily yet silently.

The smoke and dust cleared out to reveal two figures standing in the way of the hole, one obviously a large man, the other smaller. Jericho bristled and anticipated with dread what was going to happen next.

The smaller figure leaped gracefully into the light, and Jericho turned and followed the moving figure with his eyes, his mouth open in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The other figure behind the wall of smoke followed the smaller one, and when they were both in the light, Jericho turned to gape at the Titans in disbelief.

But they didn't seem to notice. Jericho turned his attention back to the two newcomers who had suddenly joined the battle. Slade and Ravager. He had never expected them to come, especially not so right on time. Ravager's one-eyed gaze met Jericho's eyes and held for a moment, then turned viciously on one of Jackal's men who attacked her from behind. She slammed him to the ground with her bo staff and moved on to the next bunch, Slade close at her side.

Jericho didn't know if he should attack his father and sister or fight along with them. Why were they here helping him, anyway? It was all too confusing and Jericho felt light-headed and just wanted to sit down. But he stood frozen to the spot he had been in since his family's arrival.

Beast Boy suddenly noticed the new additions to the room and cried out in alarm, "Slade!"

Robin whirled around. The look of shock on his face turned to anger at the sight of his nemesis, and he hurled a few birdarangs without warning; they missed their mark but whizzed by Slade's head and stabbed into the wall. Robin rushed foward with a flying punch that was aimed at Slade's face, but the latter turned around and caught the former by the wrist.

"Don't act in haste now, Robin," the man said, shoving the teen away.

"Yeah, we're trying to help you," Ravager grunted, throwing another of Jackal's minions over her head with both hands.

Raven threw up a shield to protect herself and said accusingly from a few yards away, "But why?"

"We have no reason to trust you!" Starfire yelled from above.

Slade took out nearly half a dozen men with one swing of his bo staff and turned to face Jericho. "We all have our own reasons."

Raven clenched her jaw. It was unknown that she was the only one with the slightest clue as to what was going on. "You don't know who-" She was cut off by a shot from a laser gun and went smashing into Cyborg's chest, hitting hard with a sharp _ding_. She and Cyborg fell to the ground in a heap.

Jericho rushsed to go help Raven but was jerked to a stop by being grabbed around both arms at the biceps. The grip was tight and somewhat familiar. Jericho struggled and craned his neck to see who had captured him.

Jackal.

Jericho's eyes trailed down to the man's hands, and one of them held a long-bladed hunting knife that was cold through the sleeve of Jericho's shirt. Everyone in the room froze in mid-fight, but only Slade and Jericho seemed to know the seriousness and the familiar feeling of the situation.

"Slade," Jackal said from the corner of the room, his broad chest rising and falling calmly as he turned to face the other man, still holding onto Jericho's arms. "It's been a long time. And this does bring back memories, doesn't it?"

Slade rose to his full height and gripped his bo staff with a calm touch. No one saw the real fear in his eye. "I'm aware of all of your tricks. And I will not let this happen again."

Jackal lifted Jericho's chin up with a finger and looked down at the boy's face, though pointedly avoiding his green eyes. "He has grown up somewhat, hasn't he? No doubt he'll take his looks after his father."

Slade took a step forward, but Jackal held up a hand. "I wouldn't do that, Slade. You know very well what I'm capable of doing. And I'm sure you remember that I will do it." He looked back down to Jericho. "Now. Whatever happened to that great gift you possessed, Jericho?" He chuckled evilly. "Excuse the pun. Now don't move."

Jericho looked out briefly on Slade, Ravager, and the Titans. His gaze fell on Raven, who was levitating a few feet from the ground, looking distressed and nearly as if she wanted to tear her hair out from the bad situation. The air seemed to have been sucked from the room as soon as Jackal had made his appearance. And there was no exception now.

Jericho was suddenly overtaken by a flashback, very similar to the reality he was in now. Sitting at the mercy of Jackal with a knife to his throat, young, scared, powerless to do anything. And he was scared now, but something was different. Something in the look on Raven's face made him make sure this time it was different.

He shifted his weight as quickly as he could manage, bending hard and contorting his body a bit, his weight suspended over the ground by Jackal's large hands, and landed a hard kick into the man's face that drew blood and sent the villain stumbling backwards. Jericho landed on his knees but quickly scrambled up, and the whole room went into a frenzy. Slade and Ravager went straight for the stunned Jackal, the Titans went for Jackal's men, and Jericho went for the knife of the ground. Only inches away from the dagger's handle, he was kicked off his feet and sent crashing straight through a wooden door, sliding hard into a dimly lit room.

He sat up in the middle of the splinters of wood and touched his shoulder gently. He was already covered with bruises. What else was a few more? The height of his adrenaline had dulled the pain, but he was more hurt than he thought and discovered so as he tried to stand. His legs didn't hold his weight and he sank back down to his knees. He felt lightheaded and could barely hear the fight going on the other side of the wall, despite the noise of it, and so badly wanted to lay down and sleep. With his senses dulled and pain being the only thing he was aware of, he was seconds away from lying down and giving up when a voice cut through the blackness and was the only sound he heard.

"Joey."

Jericho perked up and turned to the direction of the voice. It was male and sounded familiar. He couldn't find the source at first, then finally laid eyes on a figure that was close to the wall across the room. The dim light reflected off of something metal, and Jericho realized the person was chained to the wall by shackles. They probably needed help. He dragged himself to his feet, and while halfway up, suddenly realized who the voice belonged to and forgot all pain. How unbelievable. Grant!

Jericho wanted to cry out in joy as he kicked the splinters of wood aside and limped across the room at a run. His brother was alive! Alive and talking; bruised, yes, but alive nonetheless. Jericho focused on his older brother and was comforted by his familiar, masculine face and shaggy blond hair. It was such a relief to see him that Jericho didn't know what to do except hug him. And that he did.

"Hey kid," Grant said with a smile. "How are ya?"

Jericho looked up at his brother's face in admiration. What a miracle.

Grant flinched. "Watch the ribs. I took a beating for the team."

Jericho frowned in concrern. _"Why?" _he signed.

"Can anybody explain Jackal? Come on, get me out of these chains and I'll show you how to work revenge."

Jericho looked around the room for something to break the chains with, but there was nothing sturdy enough. He suddenly had an idea and buzzed Starfire on his communicator, who flew into the room after a few idle moments.

"You have called for me?" Starfire asked. She looked at Grant and gasped. "What happened?"

_"Help me get these off him," _Jericho signed, rattling the chains.

A voice from the broken door suddenly echoed through the dim room. "Hey! Get out of there!" One of Jackal's minions. Starfire turned around, her eyes glowing in frustration, and let a starbolt fly. It landed hard in the man's stomach and took him right out the way he came in.

_"Hurry," _Jericho signed. Starfire grabbed the chains close to Grant's wrists and snapped them without effort. Now Grant had thick bracelet-like clasps on his wrists, but at least there was no chain attatched and no wall to be smashed against.

"Thanks, cutie," Grant said, and Starfire blushed briefly. "Come on Joseph, we're gonna catch Jackal if it's the last thing I do."

Starfire made a new doorway in the wall with a huge starbolt, and the three of them exited back into the well lit room, where only a few of Jackal's men remained conscious. The rest were scattered out about the floor.

"Jericho!" Raven exclaimed.

Slade and Jackal were nowhere to be seen, but Ravager stood beside Robin in the middle of the room. She looked at Grant with no expression. "A friend of yours, Jericho?"

Jericho frowned at her. She knew good and well who Grant was. _"Where's Jackal?" _he signed.

"Him and Slade busted out the wall a few minutes ago," Cyborg said. "They ain't come back in yet. And I don't think they plan to."

Grant's large hand engulfed Jericho's wrist. "Come on."

The two of them rushed outside into the hazy darkness. The sun was still in the sky, but storm clouds had rolled in some time during the fight and now covered the sky. Jericho had never seen such lightning.

A thud on the roof of the building gave away Slade and Jackal's position. Grant was somehow up the side of the wall and onto the roof, Jericho being dragged behind, in a heartbeat.

Slade and Jackal were engaged in deep battle, and Grant jumped into the middle of it without warning, catching both men by surprise, but mostly Jackal who was practically being beaten into the concrete roof. Jericho suspected that Grant was getting revenge for himself, but mostly for his little brother and what had happened years ago. Grant's light blond hair was the only part of him that could be seen against the dark sky. Jackal had begun to fight back, and now Grant, as well as Slade, were giving him a tag-team beating that was pushing him back towards the edge of the roof. Jericho stood back and watched the scene, marveling silently at the likeness of his brother and father's style of fighting; exactly the same. Jericho closed his eyes and remembered how he had used to watch Grant's training and later mimick the moves when he was alone. He wasn't as well as a fighter as the rest of his family, but he knew enough to hold his own.

He quickly opened his eyes when he heard a grunt of pain from Grant, and saw him go sliding across the roof holding his stomach. Jericho had the urge to help his brother, but as soon as Jackal had knocked Grant down, Slade had taken his place and, in a sense of speaking, was proceeding to beat the family's long-time foe into the dirt.

The Titans burst out from the building, unsure if they should attack Slade or Jackal, but decided on the latter. The team was ready to rush in and fight, but Robin held up a hand to stop them. They looked at him, puzzled, as the Boy Wonder stared at the ongoing fight on the roof with a look of stubborness.

"What are you doing, man?" Cyborg exclaimed. "We gotta help them."

"We will if they need it," Robin replied gruffly. "'This is their fight."

Cyborg was knocked into silence with the truth. None of the Titans, save for Raven, new Jericho's backstory, but somehow they knew that this fight belonged to their mute friend. Why Slade and this other blond boy were involved, they didn't know, but they had learned to trust Robin's judgement.

Back on the roof, the fight was heating up. Grant had gotten back up to his feet and was engaged in a close hand-to-hand battle with Jackal, each of them blocking the other's moves and getting nowhere. Grant talked while he fought.

"You thought you could just get away with all of this, didn't you?" he panted, throwing a hard roundhouse kick that Jackal merely blocked. "The things you did to Joseph were sick; it should have been me or Slade, Joseph's innocent!"

"You've been a thorn in my side long enough yourself," Jackal said. "I should have gotten rid of you while I had the chance... of course, I had to have _something_ to lure in your father and brother with."

Grant cursed savagely and caught the man's oncoming fist in his hand, bending backwards swiftly and giving it a crack. Robin saw the classic Slade move from below, and he was in utter confusion.

"Something's up with all this," he said to Raven, who merely levitated silently. "Something's up. It's just too coincidental that..." He trailed off as he saw Jackal pull out what seemed to be an infamous dagger and go at Grant unmercifully. Slade whipped out a bo staff, but Jackal dodged the blows and with a hard kick sent Slade flying off the side of the roof to the ground.

"You're not going to mess things up for me again," Jackal growled, making quick stabs with the dagger at Grant, but each thrust either missed its moving target or was blocked.

One last hard thrust almost hit its mark, which was the middle of Grant's chest, but the boy had barely managed to throw up his arms and cross them at the wrists, Jackal's lower arm pressing hard down into the _X_ shape between Grant's curled fists. The knife's blade was pointing in a deadly position at Grant, and the two of them stood motionless, struggling, until Jackal's strength had the advantage and began pushing down hard until eventually Grant slowly ended up on his knees, sweating hard and pressing back against Jackal's arm for all he was worth.

They were suspended that way for what seemed like an eternity, until a flash of black and purple shot across the roof and Jackal was somehow laying sprawled out on the roof, the dagger no longer in his hand, but now in Jericho's, who stood looming over the man, flexing his fingers around the knife's handle and staring at the man who had caused him and his family so much trouble. Jackal was at his mercy now, and he knew he should make him pay.

_"Do it, Joey, stab him,"_ the expression on Grant's face read. _"Get your revenge on him. You're justified. Do it."_

Slade was suddenly standing on the roof as well. His lone eye narrowed. _"Kill him and join me. Be my apprentice. Do what your sister has done and serve me."_

Jericho looked down at Jackal, who lay motionless, his face as if he was about to meet death. The Titans were still on the ground, watching the scene in shock.

_"Do it."_

_"Join me."_

_"Do it."_

Jericho closed his eyes and clutched the dagger tightly, his hand trembling. Everyone seemed to suck in their breath with anticipation, and then Jericho made his move.

His grip relaxed and the dagger clattered to the roof, sliding a few feet and laying idly on the concrete. Jericho opened his eyes and looked hard at Jackal, who breathed again.

"Well," he said, "Slade, it looks like only one of your sons take after you."

There was a hush before Robin exclaimed, "What!" from below. The Titans were in disbelief. Slade was Jericho's father! It seemed nearly impossible.

_"Take him to jail," _Jericho signed, and Beast Boy, who was still in shock, pulled out his communicator and called for a squad. Starfire bent a large beam of metal she found and tied Jackal up with it, then joined everyone who had moved back down to the ground.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Robin yelled at Jericho once the smaller boy had come down from the roof. "We should have known! How dare you keep something like that from us!"

_"I couldn't tell you," _Jericho signed. _"After I found out he was your arch enemy, I didn't know what to do at first. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I felt like I just couldn't."_

"Do you know how much danger you could have put us in?" Robin yelled.

"Hey, don't talk to him like that," Grant snapped, glaring down at Robin. "I don't care what he didn't tell you. Nobody talks to my brother that way, okay? So shut up!" Grant shoved Robin backwards, and Cyborg quickly interfered before another fight was started, pulling Robin back by the arm.

Slade took a step forward in the grass with his hands clasped behind his back, Ravager close beside him, and settled his gaze on his sons. "I want you to join me. Become my apprentices."

Robin fumed beside Cyborg, and all was silent for a few moments. Police sirens could be heard in the distance.

_"No,"_ Jericho signed flatly, taking a step towards Slade with determination. _"No. This is not going any farther than it already has. You think you can talk me-" _he looked at Grant _"-us into joining your side, committing crimes and causing pain, but it's not going to happen. I don't know about Grant, but I'm going home. And I don't want to be harassed by you anymore."_

The words meant what they had said and cut deep, but Slade showed no emotion. He was confident that if he wanted Jericho as an apprentice, someday he would get it. He looked at his oldest son.

"I'm with Joey," Grant said flatly.

The sirens wailed loudly and police made their way over the hill as Slade and Ravager vanished off into the shadows. The Titans still stood in shock over what had just happened, but Raven flew over to Jericho and casually slipped her hand in his, concealed behind her cloak so no one could see. "Good answer. You really told him off."

Jericho blushed and smiled at her gratefully. She had been with him through this whole ordeal.

"Who was that chick that was with Dad?" Grant asked bluntly.

Jericho turned to look at his brother. _"I'll tell you later when we get home."_ Police swarmed the roof of the building and carried Jackal away in handcuffs as everyone else looked on. _"Mom will be so glad to hear from you. Thanks to Slade, we've thought you died in the bombing at your college a long time ago."_

"I think that little masked chick did that," Grant said, referring to Ravager. "It was set up to look like I had died. Man, I can't want to see Mom too."

Jericho squeezed Raven hand and thought about the events that had happened ever since the day he heard the news of the bombing. It all hadn't sunk in yet, but one day soon he would realize what had happened, what had been accomplished. Slade was off his back, at least for now, his brother was alive and well, his relationship with Raven was doing nothing but advancing, he had had made five new friends... he almost teared up at the thought of it all, but refused to cry in front of everyone and looked at the Titans.

_"I guess you'll be going home now,"_ he signed.

"Eventually," Robin said.

"We have talked it over," Starfire said, "and we wish for you to come back home with us and join our team! The both of you."

Jericho smiled. What a generous offer. _"I'll really think on it. But first we've got some things to do here, me and Grant."_

"Great," Beast Boy said. "Guess we'll see you later, then?"

Jericho nodded. _"Sometime. I want to thank you for everything you've helped me with."_ He looked at Robin. _"Please don't be mad at me. I wanted to tell you about Slade, but I didn't know how." _He didn't mention that Raven had already known.

"I guess we're cool. We'll see ya later. Just come to the Tower whenever you want."

Grant slapped Jericho on the back. "Come on, Joey. Looks like we've got a lot to clear up here." He laughed. "And it looks like we'll have quite a story to tell Mom when we get home!"

Life as Jericho knew it was finally beginning to be restored.

**-T-**

**And there you have it. The end.**


End file.
